THE 
STORY  OF  A  PAGE 

THIRTY  YEARS  OF 

PUBLIC  SERVICE  AND  PUBLIC  DISCUSSION 

IN  THE   EDITORIAL   COLUMNS  OF 

THE  NEW  YORK  WORLD 


BY 
JOHN  L.  HEATON 


HARPER  &  BROTHERS  PUBLISHERS 

NEW   YORK    AND    LONDON 

MCMXIII 


INTED   IN   THE   UNITED   STATES   OF   AMERICA 
PUBLISHED     OCTOBER.     IB13 


I-N 


THE  WORLD,  AS   ESTABLISHED   BY  JOSEPH   PULITZER 
MAY  10.  1883:— 

"AN  INSTITUTION  THAT  SHOULD  ALWAYS  FIGHT  FOR  PROGRESS 
AND  REFORM.  NEVER  TOLERATE  INJUSTICE  OR  CORRUPTION. 
ALWAYS  FIGHT  DEMAGOGUES  OF  ALL  PARTIES.  NEVER  BELONG  TO 
ANY  PARTY.  ALWAYS  OPPOSE  PRIVILEGED  CLASSES  AND  PUBLIC 
PLUNDERERS.  NEVER  LACK  SYMPATHY  WITH  THE  POOR.  ALWAYS 
REMAIN  DEVOT.ED  TO  THE  PUBLIC  WELFARE.  NEVER  BE  SATIS- 
FIED WITH  MERELY  PRINTING  NEWS,  ALWAYS  BE  DRASTICALLY 
INDEPENDENT.  NEVER  BE  AFRAID  TO  ATTACK  WRONG.  WHETHER 
BY  PREDATORY  PLUTOCRACY  OR  PREDATORY  POVERTY." 


292236 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

I.  THE  NEW  "WORLD" 1 

Mr.  Pulitzer's  Salutatory— Curious  History  of  The  World— 
Religious  Daily  Paper  and  Copperhead  Organ — Its  Suppression 
for  Four  Days  in  1864 — General  Conditions  in  1883  in  New  York 
City  and  the  Nation — Civil-service  Reform  in  Its  Infancy;  Bal- 
lot Reform  Not  Begun — The  Conditions  of  Journalism  in  New 
York — Bennett,  Greeley,  Brooks,  Webb,  and  Bryant  Gone — 
The  Unique  Position  of  The  Sun — Brief  Sketch  of  Mr.  Pulitzer's 
Career— His  Platform— The  World  Utterly  Changed  Over  Night 
—Its  Dedication  to  "The  Cause  of  the  People." 

II.  TRUE  DEMOCRACY 12 

The  World's  Energetic  Beginning — Not  a  Jack  Cade  of 
Journalism — Political  Conditions  in  New  York  City — Preparing 
for  1884— The  Fighting  Issues— The  "Southern  Brigadier" 
Still  a  Bugaboo— The  Seymour  Tariff  Plank  of  1868— "  Randall 
Democrats"  and  Reformers — Mr.  Tilden  as  New  York's  "Favor- 
ite Son"— "Resolved,  That  We  Must  Have  Money." 

III.  GROVER  CLEVELAND 21 

Mr.  Cleveland's  Remarkable  Rise  to  Political  Power — Tilden's 
Weakness  as  a  Candidate — Cleveland  and  Hoadly  as  a  Ticket — 
"No  Free  Whisky" — Blaine  and  Republican  "Principles" — 
Theodore  Roosevelt's  Dilemma — Tammany's  Unavailing  Oppo- 
sition— "We  Love  Him  Most  for  the  Enemies  He  Has  Made" — 
Butler  and  the  Prohibitionists — The  Fisher  Letters — "Rum, 
Romanism,  and  Rebellion"— " Belshazzar's  Feast"— The  World 
Not  a  Cleveland  Organ — Mr.  Cleveland's  Public  Tribute  to  The 
World — Mr.  Pulitzer's  Insistence  Upon  Independence. 

IV.  LIBERTY 37 

The  Statue  of  Liberty,  a  New  Colossus  of  Rhodes — How  The 
World  Raised  the  Pedestal — Hill  and  the  Mugwumps — Civil- 
service  Reformers  Dissatisfied  with  Cleveland — The  Hungry 
Horde  of  Office-Seekers — Tariff  Reform  Delayed  by  a  Divided 
Congress — Jake  Sharp  and  the  Boodle  Aldermen — The  Labor 
Troubles  of  1886 — Henry  George's  Candidacy  for  Mayor — 
Theodore  Roosevelt's  First  Defeat. 


vi  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

V.  DARKNESS 52 

Mr.  Pulitzer's  Great  Misfortune — How  a  Blind  Man  Edited  a 
Paper  for  Twenty-five  Years — His  Methods  of  Work — Friend- 
ship for  Roscoe  Conkling — Presentation  of  the  Gladstone  Me- 
morial— The  Pacific  Railroad  Frauds — Off-year  Election  of 
1887  and  Cleveland's  Tariff  Message — Harrison's  Nomination 
and  Election — The  Murchison  Letter  and  the  Campaign — 
The  "Great  Question"  of  War  Taxation  Left  Unsettled. 

VI.  "THE  SHOPPING  WOMAN" 66 

Elaine  a  Great  Figure  in  the  Harrison  Administration — A 
"Forward"  Policy  in  Samoa  and  Hawaii — The  Mafia  Murders 
in  New  Orleans  —  Mr.  Pulitzer's  Wiesbaden  Despatch  — 
Tammany  Returns  to  Power  in  New  York — A  Century  of 
Protection  Closing  in  Gloom — McKinley  Bill  Stirs  Republi- 
cans to  Revolt— The  Debacle  of  1890— The  Silver  Question 
Begins  to  Trouble  Democracy. 

VII.  DAVID  B.  HILL 79 

Mr.  Hill's  Election  as  Senator — His  Long  Tenure  of  the 
Governorship — Disputes  Cleveland's  Standing  as  "Favorite 
Son"  of  New  York  —  The  Snap  Convention — The  World 
Forces  Cleveland's  Nomination — Its  Course  During  the  Home- 
stead Strike — An  Incident  of  Editing  at  a  Distance — Blaine 
and  Chili;  His  Retirement — "The  Next  President  Must  Be  a 
Democrat" — Chairman  Hackett's  Search  for  "Discreet"  Men 
— Cleveland's  Election  and  Its  Lessons. 

VIII.  REACTION 93 

A  Period  of  Disaster— The  Panic  of  1893  and  Its  Political 
Consequences — Hawaii,  and  the  Beginnings  of  Imperialism — 
A  Bought  Embassy — The  Betrayal  of  the  Wilson  Bill— John 
Y.  McKane's  Downfall  in  Gravesend — Hill  Runs  for  Governor 
Again  and  Is  Beaten — The  Pullman  Strike — Cleveland  Sends 
Soldiers — Republicans  Sweep  the  Country  in  1894 — The  China- 
Japanese  War — The  Income  Tax  Declared  Unconstitutional — 
Theodore  Roosevelt,  Police  Commissioner,  and  the  Short- 
Lived  Reform  in  New  York  Under  Mayor  Strong. 

IX.  VENEZUELA 110 

The  Romance  of  a  Young  Explorer — Schomburgk's  Line — 
Disputed  Venezuelan  Boundary  Becomes  Disquieting  in  1895 
— Grover  Cleveland's  Message  Threatening  Great  Britain — 
War  Measures  Passed  by  Congress — The  Belligerent  American 
Press — The  World's  Opposition — Its  Christmas  Messages  of 
Good-Will  from  Abroad — Mr.  Olney  and  Senator  Lodge  as 
Jingoes — How  the  Trouble  Was  Settled — Presentation  of  an 
Address  to  Mr.  Pulitzer  in  England — His  Eloquent  Response. 


CONTENTS  vii 

PAGE 

X.  THE  BOND  RING 131 

Two  Splendid  Journalistic  Exploits  in  Three  Weeks — Vast 
Profit  of  the  Morgan  Syndicate  on  the  February,  1895,  Bond 
Sale — Failure  to  Protect  the  Government  from  the  "Endless 
Chain"  of  Gold  Depletion—  The  World's  Offer  of  $1,000,000 
for  Bonds — Its  Telegrams  to  Bankers  Throughout  the  Country 
Produce  Hundreds  of  Millions  of  Offers  for  the  Securities  at 
Open  Sale — The  Ring  Defeated — Immense  Success  of  the 
Offered  Bonds — How  Republicanism  Was  Driven  to  Become 
the  Sound-Money  Party — Dilemma  of  the  Democratic  Press. 

XI.  FREE  SILVER 143 

Fiat  Money  in  Previous  Elections — Demonetization,  "The 
Crime  of  '73" — Fall  in  Value  of  Silver  Due  to  Increased  Pro- 
duction—The Quantity  Theory  of  Money— Why  a  Third  Term 
for  Cleveland  Was  Impossible — Republican  Party  Hesitant 
\  Upon  Silver  Until  the  Eve  of  the  Convention — The  Ohio 
McKinley  Straddle  —  William  J.  Bryan's  "Cross  of  Gold" 
Speech  and  His  Nomination  —  The  World's  Good-Natured 
Campaign — Rising  Price  of  Wheat  Confutes  the  Silver  Argu- 
ment— Senator  Platt  and  the  Tammany  Victory  of  1897. 

XII.  A  WAR  FOR  AN  IDEAL 159 

What  Caused  the  War  with  Spain—  The  World  as  a  Military 
Critic — The  Firm  Friendship  of  Britain  in  the  Crisis — First 
News  of  the  Battle  of  Manila — The  Arrival  of  "The  Man  on 
Horseback" — Theodore  Roosevelt  and  Boss  Platt — Forcing 
the  Franchise  Tax — Ramapo  and  Rapid  Transit — Great 
Britain  and  the  Boer  War — President  Kruger's  Appeal  to  The 
World — Prompt  Protests  Against  Imperialism. 

XIII.  IMPERIALISM 172 

Mr.  Bryan's  Tactical  Error — He  Assists  the  Spanish  Treaty 
and  Acquisition  of  the  Philippines — Republican  Platform 
Determined  by  the  Results  of  the  War — Reciprocity  Yields  to 
the  Theory  of  Markets  Won  and  Held  by  Military  Power — 
Theodore  Roosevelt  for  Vice-President — The  Free-Silver  Is- 
sue Insisted  Upon  by  Mr.  Bryan — Devery  and  the  New  York 
Police  Department — Governor  Odell  Rescues  the  City  by 
Favoring  Fusion— The  Shepard-Low  Campaign. 

XIV.  IN  PRAISE  OF  ROOSEVELT 186 

The  Coal  Strike  and  President  Roosevelt's  Energetic  Action 
— Hill's  Socialistic  Platform  in  New  York — Defeat  by  a  Nar- 
row Margin — The  Rise  of  a  New  Power  in  Tammany  Hall — 
Murphy's  Skilful  Campaign  in  1903— George  B.  McClellan's 
Long  Service  as  Mayor — Hugh  McLaughlin's  Last  Fight — The 


viii  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Northern  Securities  Merger  Smashed  by  the  Supreme  Court — 
Growing  Power  of  the  President — Some  Early  Misgivings. 

XV.  ALTON  BROOKS  PARKER 200 

How  Parker  Became  a  "  Favorite  Son  " — High  Finance  and 
Practical  Politics  Take  Possession  of  His  Campaign — Par- 
ker's Gold  Telegram  to  the  St.  Louis  Convention — The  Nom- 
ination of  Judge  Herrick  for  Governor — Cortelyou  and  the 
Republican  Campaign  Fund — The  Famous  "Ten  Ques- 
tions"— Judge  Parker's  Challenge — President  Roosevelt's 
Unqualified  Denial — His  Re-election  the  "Triumph  of  Hope 
Over  Experience." 

XVI.  "EQUITABLE  CORRUPTION" 212 

James  Hazen  Hyde  and  the  Struggle  for  the  Control  of  the 
Equitable — The  World  Moves  for  a  General  House-Cleaning 
— Sale  of  the  Company  to  Thomas  F.  Ryan — Governor 
Higgins's  Reluctance  to  Move  for  an  Investigation — The 
Armstrong  Committee  and  Mr.  Hughes — Mr.  Perkins  and 
the  Republican  Campaign  Fund — The  Permanent  Good 
Results  of  the  Probe — The  Equitable  Now  in  the  Control  of 
J.  Pierpont  Morgan — What  Remains  to  Be  Done. 

XVII.  CHARLES  EVANS  HUGHES 228 

Rise  of  Mr.  Hughes  to  Power  in  New  York — Mr.  Hearst's 
Candidacies  for  Mayor  and  Governor — George  B.  McClellan 
as  Mayor — Governor  Hughes's  Bitter  Conflicts  with  the  Re- 
publican Bosses — His  War  upon  Race-Track  Gambling — 
Roosevelt  Compels  his  Renomination — His  Fruitless  Fight 
for  Direct  Primaries — Why  Hughes  was  Side-Tracked  from 
Politics  to  the  Supreme  Court — Mayor  Gaynor's  Adminis- 
tration. 

XVIII.  "THE  MAP  OF  BRYANISM" 247 

Mr.  Bryan's  Return  from  a  Trip  Around  the  World — He 
Conquers  "The  Enemy's  Country" — Practically  Nominated 
Two  Years  in  Advance — The  World's  Strong  Protest — Mr. 
Taft's  Selection  Becomes  Certain — A  Big-Stick  Convention 
— The  Nation's  Need  of  an  Opposition — Untimely  Death  of 
Gov.  John  A.  Johnson  of  Minnesota — Taft  Elected  by  His 
Opponent's  Weakness— The  Hard-Times  Issue  Goes  for 
Naught. 

XIX.  THE  PANAMA  LIBEL  SUIT 263 

The  Narrow  Bar  between  Seas  at  Panama — De  Lesseps 
and  the  Crash  of  the  French  Canal  Company — Failure  of 
Colombia  to  Ratify  the  Hay-Herran  Treaty— The  Prepared 
"Revolution" — President  Roosevelt  Takes  the  Isthmus— 


CONTENTS  ix 

PAGE 

William  Nelson  Cromwell  and  the  Panama  Companies — 
Mr.  Roosevelt's  Answer  to  The  Indianapolis  News — The 
World  Denounces  his  Statements  as  False — Federal  Libel 
Suit  Ordered  Under  a  Charles  I.  Law  of  1662— Failure  of  the 
Government's  Case — Crushing  Defeat  Before  the  Supreme 
Court — Later  Developments. 

XX.  PUBLIC  SERVICE 285 

The  World1  s  Long  Fight  for  the  Income  Tax — "Reversing 
the  Court"  as  to  the  Gas  Trust — Working-men's  Acts — The 
Japanese  War — The  Founding  of  the  School  of  Journalism — 
Opposing  the  Catskill  Water  Folly— The  World  and  the 
Courts — Opposition  to  the  Recall  of  Judges  and  of  Judicial 
Decisions — The  Initiative  and  Referendum. 

XXI.  WILLIAM  HOWARD  TAFT 301 

Payne- Aldrich  Act  Repeats  Story  of  the  Wilson  Bill 
—Mr.  Taft's  Dilemma — He  Reluctantly  Sides  with  the 
Tariff  Stand-patters — Revolt  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, and  Party  Lines  Broken — Failure  of  the  Special  Ses- 
sion— Arbitration  Treaties  Negotiated  by  Mr.  Taft  Beaten 
in  the  Senate — Canada  Rejects  Reciprocity  Proffer — Two 
Fine  Peace  Measures  thus  Defeated — Mr.  Taft,  the  Cor- 
porations and  the  Courts — Undeserved  Humiliation  of  an 
Able  President. 

XXII.  THE  LONG  BATTLE  FOR  REFORM    ......    312 

Indiana  in  1880 — Vice-President  Arthur  and  "Soap" — 
"Frying  the  Fat"  in  1888— "Floaters"  in  "Blocks  of  Five" 
— Corruption  Stirs  the  States  to  Action — The  Silver  Cam- 
paign Fund  in  1896 — Mark  Hanna  and  Hannaism — Trust 
Contributions  in  1904— Harriman's  $260,000  and  "Where  do 
I  Stand?" — The  Standard  Oil  Contribution  Not  Sent  Back, 
as  President  Roosevelt  Ordered — Ryan  and  Belmont's  Vast 
Gifts— Cleaner  Fighting  in  1908— Passage  of  Federal  Cor- 
rupt Practices  Acts. 

XXIII.  AGAIN  MR.  ROOSEVELT 325 

The  Early  Career  of  a  Great  Politician — Mr.  Roosevelt 
and  the  Edmunds  Campaign — He  Leaves  the  Independents 
to  Support  Blaine — His  Troubled  Presidency— Congress  and 
the  Secret  Service  Moneys — The  Roosevelt  Corporation 
Policy — The  World  Nominates  Him  for  Senator — His  Trip 
to  Africa — Rushing  to  Defeat  in  the  Stimson  Campaign — 
Governor  Dix's  Van-colored  Administration — The  Birth 
of  the  Progressive  Movement — Mr.  Roosevelt  Takes 
Possession. 


x  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

XXIV.   "ARMAGEDDON" 339 

The  "Seven  Little  Governors"  Invite  Mr.  Roosevelt  into 
Action — He  Throws  His  Hat  into  the  Ring — Attempts  to 
Grasp  the  Republican  Nomination  and  is  Defeated — The 
World  Demands  the  Nomination  of  Woodrow  Wilson — 
Mr.  Bryan's  Great  Services  at  the  Baltimore  Convention 
— Crushing  Defeat  of  Boss  Murphy  and  the  Reactionaries — 
Nomination  of  William  Sulzer  for  Governor — Philosophy  of 
Politics — Barren  Results  of  the  Bull  Moose  Campaign — 
"A  New  Birth  of  Freedom." 

INDEX  359 


INTRODUCTION 

JOSEPH  PULITZER  bought  The  World  from  Jay  Gould 
in  May,  1883,  and  on  the  tenth  day  of  the  month  assumed 
control  of  its  columns.  He  was  thirty-six  years  old.  He 
did  not  live  to  complete  thirty  years  in  the  ownership  of 
the  paper.  He  died  in  his  sixty-fifth  year,  upon  his 
yacht,  Liberty,  in  the  harbor  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 

Mr.  Pulitzer's  chief  concern  in  the  management  of  The 
World  was  the  conduct  of  its  editorial  page.  Details  of 
business  management  never  engaged  his  attention  longer 
than  was  necessary.  He  was  a  great  news  editor,  with  a 
marvelous  instinct  for  seizing  upon  what  was  vital  in 
passing  events;  but  neither  did  he  devote  to  the  presenta- 
tion of  the  news  his  most  earnest  attention. 

His  was  the  journalism  of  influence,  of  advocacy,  of 
direction.  He  recognized  in  public  opinion  the  power  in 
modern  government,  the  builder  of  modern  civilization. 
It  was  his  ambition  to  voice  public  opinion.  It  was  his 
duty,  as  he  saw  it,  to  inform  public  opinion,  to  oppose 
public  opinion,  and  even  patriotic  impulse,  when  he  saw 
it  to  be  in  the  wrong.  To  this  duty  he  gave  his  con- 
stant thought  with  a  singleness  of  purpose  intensified  by 
infirmity. 

An  examination  of  the  conduct  of  the  editorial  page  of 
The  World  for  thirty  years  is  a  study  of  a  stirring  epoch. 
The  public  advocacy  of  The  World  has  in  many  ways 
affected  American  history.  At  some  points  it  has  made 
history. 


THE   STORY  OF  A  PAGE 


THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 


THE  NEW  "WORLD" 

1860-1883 

Mr.  Pulitzer's  Salutatory— Curious  History  of  "The  World" — Religious 
Daily  Paper  and  Copperhead  Organ — Its  Suppression  for  Four  Days  in 
186J. — General  Conditions  in  1883  in  New  York  City  and  the  Nation — 
Civil-service  Reform  in  Its  Infancy;  Ballot  Reform  Not  Begun — The  Con- 
ditions of  Journalism  in  New  York — Bennett,  Greeley,  Brooks,  Webb,  and 
Bryant  Gone— The  Unique  Position  of  l(The  Sun"— Brief  Sketch  of  Mr. 
Pulitzer's  Career — His  Platform — "The  World"  Utterly  Changed  Over 
Night— Its  Dedication  to  "  The  Cause  of  the  People." 

WITHOUT  previous  announcement  the  following  leading 
editorial  appeared  in  the  New  York  World  on  the  llth 
of  May,  1883: 

The  entire  World  newspaper  property  has  been  purchased 
by  the  undersigned,  and  will,  from  this  day  on,  be  under 
different  management — different  in  men,  measures  and  meth- 
ods— different  in  purpose,  policy  and  principle — different  in 
objects  and  interests — different  in  sympathies  and  convictions 
—different  in  head  and  heart. 

Performance  is  better  than  promise.  Exuberant  assurances 
are  cheap.  I  make  none.  I  simply  refer  the  public  to  the  new 
World  itself,  which  henceforth  shall  be  the  daily  evidence  of  its 
own  growing  improvement,  with  forty-eight  daily  witnesses 
in  its  forty-eight  columns. 


THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

There  is  room  in  this  great  and  growing  city  for  a  journal 
that  is  not  only  cheap  but  bright,  not  only  bright  but  large, 
not  only  large  but  truly  democratic — dedicated  to  the  cause 
of  the  people  rather  than  that  of  purse-potentates — devoted 
more  to  the  news  of  the  New  than  the  Old  World — that  will 
expose  all  fraud  and  sham,  fight  all  public  evils  and  abuses — 
that  will  serve  and  battle  for  the  people  with  earnest  sincerity. 

In  that  cause  and  for  that  end  solely  the  new  World  is  hereby 
enlisted  and  committed  to  the  attention  of  the  intelligent 
public.  JOSEPH  PULITZER. 

The  newspaper  for  which  this  inspiring  challenge  was 
issued  was  an  odd  figure  in  American  journalism,  with  a 
curious  history. 

In  1860  a  one-cent  religious  daily  newspaper  was  begun 
in  New  York  by  Alexander  Cummings  and  others,  chiefly 
Philadelphians.  It  was  called  The  World.  It  refused  to 
print  police  or  theatrical  news  or  theatrical  advertising; 
and  by  its  small  size,  feeble  management,  and  lack  of 
popular  support  it  seemed  doomed  to  early  death  in  spite 
of  the  wealth  and  standing  of  its  founders.  After  a 
brief  and  costly  career  upon  its  chosen  lines  it  was  merged 
with  the  Courier  and  Enquirer;  and,  though  the  latter  was 
a  consolidation  of  two  well-known  journals,  the  shorter 
title,  by  some  happy  chance  or  stroke  of  foresight,  was 
placed  first  in  the  new  name. 

The  World  and  Courier  and  Enquirer  was  bought  in 
1862  by  August  Belmont,  S.  L.  M.  Barlow,  and  other 
influential  Democrats  sympathetic  with  the  "  Albany 
regency."  They  placed  it  under  the  editorial  charge  of 
Manton  Marble,  who  became  in  time  its  owner.  During 
the  Civil  War  The  World  was  an  organ  of  the  New  York 
Copperheads,  as  extreme  opponents  of  the  war  policies 
of  the  government  were  called.  In  May,  1864,  it  was  one 
of  two  or  three  New  York  newspapers  that  published  the 
bogus  Presidential  proclamation  issued  for  stock-jobbing 
purposes  through  the  late  Joseph  Howard,  which,  in  the 


THE    NEW      'WORLD"  3 

name  of  President  Lincoln,  appointed  a  day  of  national 
fasting  and  prayer  and  called  for  four  hundred  thousand 
more  soldiers.  A  guard  was  thrown  into  The  World 
office  on  May  18,  and  for  four  days  its  publication  was 
suppressed.  Its  editor  was  arrested,  and  was  to  have 
been  imprisoned,  like  Howard,  in  Fort  Lafayette,  but  was 
soon  released. 

Mr.  Marble  surrounded  himself  with  able  writers,  but 
his  newspaper  was  not  a  success.  In  1876  he  sold  it  to  a 
group  of  men  headed  by  Thomas  A.  Scott,  president  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Railroad.  It  was  then  known  simply 
as  The  World.  Scott  put  in  charge  of  the  paper  William 
Henry  Hurlbert,  a  writer  of  extraordinary  brilliance 
and  keenness.  Of  its  character  in  Mr.  Hurlbert's  time 
St.  Clair  McKelway,  the  veteran  editor  of  The  Brooklyn 
Eagle,  has  written: 

It  upheld  Horatio  Seymour  when  he  insisted  on  the  gold  standard 
for  New  York  State  in  a  time  of  irredeemable  paper  currency.  It 
warred  on  William  M.  Tweed's  criminal  alteration  of  the  city  charter 
from  behind  which  he  practised  highway  robbery  to  the  tune  of  mil- 
lions in  the  name  of  law.  It  made  now  and  then  a  stand  for  better 
municipal  results  by  informal  fusion  of  parties.  But  it  never  sought 
the  art  of  commanding  a  living  by  the  approbation  and  confidence  of 
the  masses,  for  the  tendency  of  its  management  inclined  to  the  satis- 
faction of  the  capitalists  with  its  steadiness,  and  to  the  applause  of 
the  carping,  the  cynical,  the  sciolistic,  and  the  pessimistic  by  its  selec- 
tion and  treatment  of  topics.  Its  mistaken  sense  of  humor  comprised 
the  discussion  of  serious  matters  from  a  comedy  side  and  the  discussion 
of  trivial  matters  from  a  serious  side. 

The  lack  of  a  serious  purpose  handicapped  the  venture 
heavily,  and  it  languished  until  Scott's  death.  His  estate 
sold  it  to  Jay  Gould,  with  the  natural  result  that  it  lost 
money  steadily,  was  distrusted  by  the  people,  and  was 
unable  even  to  represent  effectively  the  policies  or  to 
serve  the  interests  of  its  owner.  In  April,  1883,  it  had 
less  than  ten  thousand  circulation  in  New  York  City. 
It  was  known  to  be  for  sale,  and  possessed  a  membership 


4  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

in  the  Associated  Press,  but  newspaper  men  of  other 
towns  who  were  tempted  to  try  their  fate  in  the  metropolis 
fought  shy  of  a  property  so  heavily  handicapped  by  its 
record.  No  man  could  hope  to  succeed  with  it  who  had 
not  the  genius  to  discern  and  the  force  to  carry  out  a 
plan  of  divorcing  it  at  once,  and  with  conspicuous  com- 
pleteness, from  its  former  courses. 

Conditions  of  tune  and  place  supplied  the  opportu- 
nity for  a  great  popular  journal.  The  city  and  that 
part  of  the  country  which  could  be  easily  reached  from 
New  York  were  a  tempting  field  for  the  political  re- 
former. 

Hard  hit  by  the  Civil  War  and  by  the  panic  of  1873-77, 
New  York  had  grown  for  twenty  years  less  rapidly  than 
has  been  its  wont  both  before  and  since  that  period.  The 
ten  years  of  penny-pinching  that  saved  its  credit  after 
the  Tweed  Ring's  downfall  had  left  it  bare  of  modern 
improvements.  The  streets  were  ill-paved  and  dirty. 
Healthful  tenements  did  not  exist;  the  people  of  the 
congested  districts  were  housed  in  old  residences  sub- 
divided into  dark  rooms,  where  disease  worked  ceaselessly 
to  pile  up  a  death-rate  almost  approaching  that  of  St. 
Petersburg.  Public  morals  and  public  decency  were 
upon  a  low  plane.  Along  Chatham  Street  sailors  and 
countrymen  were  nightly  robbed  in  low  dives  more  like 
Port  Said  than  like  the  New  York  of  to-day.  The  con- 
nection between  vice,  the  criminal  gang,  the  higher 
police  officials,  and  the  political  boss  was  an  evil  against 
which  The  World  was  to  wage  unceasing  war  during 
thirty  years  of  gradually  improving  conditions.  Political 
corruption  was  not  so  costly  to  the  public  purse  as  in 
Tweed's  time,  but  it  was  almost  as  harmful  to  the  moral 
sense  of  the  community.  Power  was  shared  by  rival 
Democratic  " halls,"  among  which  Tammany  was  again 
forging  to  the  front,  and  by  Republican  bosses  always 
ready  for  deals  with  the  Democratic  factions.  Franklin 


THE    NEW    "WORLD'  5 

Edson  was  Mayor  of  New  York,  filling  out  the  brief 
term  of  an  unprogressive  administration. 

Hard  times  had  compelled  children  to  go  earlier  to  work, 
so  that  the  total  school  registration  of  the  state  had  risen 
but  little  in  twenty  years.  The  insane  were  kept  in 
county  almshouses,  often  a  source  of  excessive  profit  to 
individuals  and  almost  always  neglected.  Drunkenness 
was  far  more  common  than  now.  Preventive  medicine 
was  in  its  beginning,  except  as  to  smallpox,  which  vaccina- 
tion had  not  yet  made  a  rarity.  Ten  hours  was  a  day's 
work  in  the  building  trades.  Street-car  employees  toiled 
fifteen  or  sixteen  hours.  So  late  as  1886  those  of  New 
York  and  Brooklyn  struck  for  twelve  hours  a  day. 

The  turning-point  for  political  decency  in  New  York 
State  and  City  had  been  reached  in  1871,  through  the 
assault  on  the  Tweed  Ring  and  the  storming  of  its  Albany 
outposts.  But  in  the  federal  government  the  Civil  War 
had  drawn  after  it  a  train  of  evil  consequences  which 
were  as  yet  scarcely  lessened.  Judges  of  high  federal 
courts  had  been  driven  from  the  bench  by  threat  of 
impeachment.  Congressmen  had  trafficked  in  appoint- 
ments. The  triumph  of  the  first  Pacific  railroad  had 
been  turned  into  shame  by  the  disclosure  that,  as  Senator 
Hoar  said,  "  every  step  of  that  mighty  enterprise  had 
been  taken  in  fraud." 

In  the  Presidency  Grant  had  proved  a  disappointment. 
His  very  virtues,  his  simple-mindedness,  his  trust  in  his 
friends  and  his  friends'  friends,  made  him  a  gull  for 
grafters.  His  private  secretary  was  involved  in  the 
Whisky  Ring  scandals;  his  Secretary  of  War,  Belknap, 
was  impeached  for  bribery  and  resigned  under  fire. 
The  Vice-President  and  the  Speaker  of  the  House  were 
implicated  in  questionable  railroad  transactions. 

The  fraud  that  counted  in  Rutherford  B.  Hayes  as 
President  had  so  inflamed  the  anger  of  the  majority  that 
civil  war  might  once  more  have  broken  out  had  Tilden 


6  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

been  less  patient  in  his  patriotic  desire  to  avoid  conflict. 
For  years  longer  the  country  was  fated  to  endure  the 
belated  disputes  of  reconstruction;  in  the  North  the 
waving  of  the  "  bloody  shirt/'  in  the  South  impassioned 
protest  against  negro  domination  upheld  by  federal 
bayonets,  was  the  political  highroad  to  preferment. 

Hayes,  unpopular  with  politicians  and  handicapped  by 
a  clouded  title,  was  brushed  aside  after  four  years  by 
stronger  men.  The  movement  for  the  third-term  nomi- 
nation of  General  Grant  met  the  renewed  onset  of  the 
friends  of  James  G.  Elaine,  and,  between  the  two,  in  the 
fiercest  national  convention  then  of  record,  James  A.  Gar- 
field  became  the  compromise  candidate.  As  President, 
Garfield  intensified  the  faction  fight  between  the  Grant 
and  Elaine  forces  and  was  shot  down  by  Guiteau.  Ches- 
ter A.  Arthur,  who  succeeded  him,  was  desirous  of  winning 
a  renomination  by  a  creditable  administration.  A  former 
associate  of  local  bosses  in  New  York,  who  made  light  of 
corruption  at  the  polls  and  who  had  been  removed  from 
office  by  President  Hayes,  he  had  been  chosen  to  placate 
the  Grant  faction,  and  the  Elaine  men  would  have  none 
of  him.  His  was  the  crippled  administration  that  in  1883 
was  drawing  to  a  close.  By  forcing  the  nomination  of 
Charles  J.  Folger  for  Governor  of  New  York  in  1882 
Arthur  had  caused  the  revulsion  of  public  feeling  that 
swept  Grover  Cleveland  into  office  by  an  unprecedented 
majority  and  made  him  one  of  the  conspicuous  leaders 
of  the  national  Democracy. 

The  attempt  of  Grant  in  1870,  and  again  of  Hayes,  to 
introduce  the  merit  test  in  political  appointments  had 
failed,  and  not  until  1883  was  the  Pendleton  bill  passed, 
which  applied  the  examination  method  to  fourteen  thou- 
sand unimportant  federal  offices.  Consulships  and  diplo- 
matic appointments  and  important  posts  in  the  home 
administration  were  held  at  the  disposal  of  political  and 
financial  power  and  became  the  fruitful  source  of  faction. 


THE    NEW      'WORLD'  7 

The  people  had  no  adequate  way  of  imposing  their  will 
upon  their  public  servants.  Nowhere  in  the  United 
States  was  there  a  secret  ballot.  The  citizen  might 
prepare  with  " pasters"  or  other  crude  devices  his  "vest- 
pocket  vote/'  but  he  was  balanced  on  election  day  by 
some  poor  fellow  who  for  fear  of  loss  of  employment  or 
by  some  knave  who  for  a  fee  marched  to  the  polls  holding 
in  sight  the  folded  ticket  the  district  captain  put  into  his 
hands.  Not  until  after  five  years  of  The  World's  new 
ownership  was  the  Australian  ballot  introduced  into  any 
state.  The  first  effective  blow  was  thus  struck  at  the 
buying  of  votes  and  the  intimidation  of  voters  when  the 
buyer  could  no  longer  be  certain  that  the  seller  would 
stay  bought,  and  when  the  intimidator  could  be  fairly 
sure  that  his  victim  would  betray  him. 

In  such  a  state  of  public  affairs  the  short  cut  to  many  re- 
forms lay  through  a  change  in  the  national  administration. 

The  journalistic  forces  that  could  be  marshaled  for  that 
or  any  other  public  purpose  were  weak  compared  with  what 
they  are  to-day.  The  principal  newspapers  of  New  York 
sold  at  four  cents.  A  small  journal  of  great  circulation, 
The  Evening  News,  was  the  organ  of  Tammany  and  of 
the  sporting  interests,  but  had  no  standing  in  the  nation. 
The  group  of  editors  whose  able  personal  journalism 
had  enlivened  New  York  in  the  Civil  War  period  had 
passed.  Bennett  and  Greeley,  James  Brooks,  of  The 
Express,  and  William  Cullen  Bryant,  of  The  Evening  Post, 
had  died  within  the  six  years  from  1872  to  1878.  James 
Watson  Webb,  of  the  old  Courier,  yet  lingered,  a  man 
past  eighty,  long  retired  from  journalism.  The  Times 
and  the  Tribune,  rapidly  recovering  under  Whitelaw 
Reid's  editorship  from  the  ruin  that  threatened  it  in  1872 
when  Horace  Greeley  was  the  Liberal  Republican  and 
Democratic  candidate  for  President,  competed  for  the 
favor  of  Republican  readers.  It  seemed  as  if  journalism 
had  reacted  from  its  feverish  activity  during  the  anti- 


8  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

slavery  agitation,  the  war  and  reconstruction,  and  was 
unconsciously  awaiting  the  new  issues,  new  leadership, 
and  new  methods  which  should  revivify  it. 

In  the  prevailing  condition  of  journalistic  conservatism 
two  strong  personalities  were  conspicuous,  those  of  E. 
L.  Godkin  of  the  Evening  Post,  a  journal  of  small  circu- 
lation but  wide  influence,  and  Charles  A.  Dana  of  the  Sun. 
The  Sun,  sold  for  two  cents  a  copy,  had  a  circulation 
surpassing  that  of  the  other  morning  papers,  and  was  a 
masterpiece  of  intelligent  compression,  with  pungent  edi- 
torial comment  which  made  it  on  the  Democratic  side  the 
foremost  power  in  journalism  in  the  East.  But  The  Sun 
was  not  in  full  sympathy  with  Democratic  doctrines,  and 
failed  to  represent  the  party.  It  had  referred  to  General 
Hancock  while  candidate  for  the  Presidency  in  1880  as 
"a  good  man  weighing  two  hundred  and  forty  pounds," 
and  it  was  about  to  oppose  another  Democratic  candidate. 

That  Mr.  Pulitzer  saw  the  tactical  advantage  which 
this  opening  gave  is  certain,  for  he  saw  most  things; 
and  he  had  been  The  Sun's  Washington  correspondent 
for  a  brief  but  active  period.  But  the  driving-power 
which  sent  the  immigrant  young  man  of  thirty-six  years 
to  try  conclusions  in  the  metropolis  was  his  desire  for 
wider  leadership,  his  wish  to  grasp  the  great  journalistic 
opportunities  of  the  metropolis. 

Born  in  Hungary  in  1847,  Joseph  Pulitzer  had  come  to 
America  in  1864,  and  at  seventeen  had  enlisted  in  the 
First  New  York  Cavalry.  He  served  eight  months — to 
the  end  of  the  war.  At  twenty-one  he  was  a  reporter  on 
the  St.  Louis  Westliche-Post  under  Carl  Schurz;  at 
twenty-two,  a  member  of  the  Missouri  Legislature;  at 
twenty-five,  a  member  and  the  secretary  of  the  Cincin- 
nati Liberal  Republican  convention  which  nominated 
Horace  Greeley  for  President;  at  twenty-seven,  a  member 
of  the  Missouri  constitutional  convention;  at  thirty- 
three,  the  founder  of  the  St.  Louis  Post-Dispatch. 


THE    NEW      'WORLD'  9 

This  feat  was  the  baptism  of  his  blade.  It  drew  to  him 
the  attention  of  newspaper  men  throughout  the  country 
and  gained  thus  early  their  confidence  and  the  expectation 
of  high  achievement.  It  was  a  success  accomplished 
without  adequate  resources,  yet  without  faltering  in  his 
determination  to  follow  the  rule  of  absolute  independence 
—an  almost  bankrupting  independence  that  took  him 
within  about  three  hundred  dollars  of  his  total  cash  re- 
sources before  he  succeeded  in  establishing,  upon  the 
same  lines  that  he  later  followed  with  The  World,  a 
newspaper  that  has  since  wielded  an  immense  power  in 
the  Middle  West. 

There  was  not  a  conservative  hair  upon  Mr.  Pulitzer's 
head  or  a  conservative  ounce  of  blood  within  his  body. 
He  was  a  born  independent.  But  where  Carl  Schurz 
and  others  with  whom  he  had  taken  part  in  the  Liberal 
Republican  movement  looked  back  with  longing  to  the 
Republican  party,  as  in  imagination  they  could  see  it 
"builded  closer  to  their  hearts'  desire,"  Mr.  Pulitzer  had 
ceased  to  expect  political  reforms  at  its  hands.  He  was 
an  independent;  the  logic  of  the  situation  and  his  own  in- 
stinct for  opposition  made  him  an  independent  Democrat. 

What  was  the  political  creed  of  this  rising  power  in 
American  journalism  at  the  moment  when  he  grasped 
his  great  opportunity?  He  printed  it  on  May  17,  1883, 
under  the  title  "The  World's  Platform": 

1.  Tax  luxuries. 

2.  Tax  inheritances. 

3.  Tax  large  incomes. 

4.  Tax  monopolies. 

.5.  Tax  the  privileges  of  corporations. 

6.  A  tariff  for  revenue. 

7.  Reform  the  civil  service. 

8.  Punish  corrupt  office-holders. 

9.  Punish  vote-buying. 

10.  Punish  employers  who  coerce  their  employees  in  elections. 
2 

• 

... 


10  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

But  Mr.  Pulitzer  had  not  waited  six  days  to  sound  his 
challenge,  nor  one.  To  make  The  World  trusted  of  the 
people  it  was  necessary  to  change  its  character  utterly 
over  night.  How  well  he  succeeded  there  is  a  vivid 
record  from  a  non-professional  witness.  Writing  from 
Mount  Pocono,  Pennsylvania,  June  4,  1912,  to  The  World, 
Ryerson  W.  Jennings,  of  Philadelphia,  said: 

Crossing  the  Chestnut  Street  bridge  in  Philadelphia  many  years  ago, 
I  bought  from  a  bright-eyed  newsboy  the  first  number  of  the  New 
York  World  under  Joseph  Pulitzer's  management.  I  saw  at  a  glance 
that  the  emancipation  of  the  newspapers  of  this  country  had  com- 
menced, and  the  people  were  to  get  the  news  of  the  day  in  an  uncolored 
form;  that  great  wrongs  were  to  be  righted;  that  light  was  to  be  let 
in  where  darkness  covered  it;  that  crooked  things  were  to  be  made 
straight. 

Never,  indeed,  was  transformation  more  radical.  Mr. 
Pulitzer  was  naturally  obliged  to  work  with  the  news 
staff  that  Mr.  Hurlbert  had  collected,  though  he  began  at 
once  to  make  additions  from  the  local  field,  enlisting  many 
clever  writers.  But  the  change  in  tone  was  instantly 
perceptible.  The  old  black  head-line  carrying  the  title 
was  changed  to  one  nearly  resembling  that  used  to-day. 
Heavy  head-lines  over  articles  were  replaced  by  lighter, 
smaller,  more  modest  type.  Big  and  deep  head-lines  in 
the  New  York  press,  a  blemish  to  many  critics,  were  no 
invention  of  The  World.  They  came  later,  and  gradually. 
In  the  much  more  important  matter  of  the  treatment  of 
the  news  there  was  a  revolution.  An  experienced  man 
scanning  the  first  page  of  The  World  for  May  10  and  May 
11,  1883,  could  see  at  a  glance  that  in  the  interim  a 
master  had  come.  More  interest,  more  earnestness,  more 
heart  and  thought  appeared  throughout. 

But  the  greatest  change  was  in  the  editorial  page. 
Anxious  as  Jay  Gould  was  to  get  rid  of  a  useless  property, 
he  had  nearly  defeated  the  negotiations  for  the  sale  of  The 
World  by  stipulating  that  one  or  two  editorial  writers 


THE    NEW      'WORLD"  11 

be  retained.  Mr.  Pulitzer  preferred  to  urge  new  measures 
with  new  men,  and  some  diplomacy  was  necessary  to 
smooth  away  the  difficulty.  An  earnestness  of  purpose 
which  Gould  writers  might  have  found  it  embarrassing  to 
assume  took  the  place  of  the  old  cynicism.  An  eagerness 
to  attack  corporate  and  political  rascality  foreign  to  The 
World  of  May  10th,  which  defended  them  or  ignored  them 
or  joked  about- them,  appeared  in  The  World  of  May  llth. 
Men  about  town  who  had  read  Hurlbert's  beautifully 
written  but  cynical  articles  rubbed  their  eyes  in  amaze- 
ment. Many  such  men  promptly  dropped  the  paper; 
Mr.  Pulitzer  did  not  share  the  fears  then  common  with 
newspaper  men  undertaking  such  tasks  of  reorganization 
lest  they  should  lose  old  readers  before  gaining  new 
ones.  Deserters  were  more  than  made  good  by  men  in 
sympathy  with  the  new  editor's  aims. 

Journalists  were  quick  to  note  the  transformation, 
usually  with  disapproval,  as  men  are  wont  to  disapprove 
portents  that  war  against  the  familiar  and  accustomed. 
A  shrewd  impression  was  that  of  the  Philadelphia  Chronicle 
of  May  14th: 

The  change  which  is  apparent  today  on  every  page  of  the  New  York 
World  in  its  tone,  character,  and  style  is  a  most  gratifying  one.  There 
is  force  and  vitality  in  its  utterances,  something  of  the  snap,  the 
breeze,  and  the  racy  flavor  of  the  West,  from  which  its  new  owner, 
Mr.  Joseph  Pulitzer,  comes.  The  same  space  which  formerly  was 
devoted  to  the  verbose  discussion  of  one  or  two  leading  topics  now 
contains  short  and  crisp  articles  on  a  half-dozen  or  more  subjects, 
and  there  is  something  positive  and  emphatic  in  its  deliverances  that 
is  truly  refreshing  when  compared  with  the  elegant  but  uninfluential 
literary  estheticism  that  marked  its  previous  control.  Above  all,  the 
sardonic  leer  and  avaricious  grin  of  Mr.  Jay  Gould  are  no  longer 
discernible  in  its  columns. 

Violently,  harshly,  conspicuously,  unmistakably  turned 
in  a  new  direction  and  plainly  "  dedicated  to  the  cause  of 
the  people/'  the  new  World  was  launched  upon  a  career 
which  its  rivals  prophesied  would  be  brief. 


II 

TRUE   DEMOCRACY 

1883-1884 

"The  World's"  Energetic  Beginning — Not  a  Jack  Cade  of  Journalism — 
Political  Conditions  in  New  York  City — Preparing  for  1884 — The  Fighting 
Issues — The  " Southern  Brigadier"  Still  a  Bugaboo — The  Seymour  Tariff 
Plank  of  1868— " Randall  Democrats"  and  Reformers— Mr.  Tilden  as 
New  York's  "Favorite  Son"— " Resolved,  That  We  Must  Have  Money." 

IT  was  necessary  to  The  World's  success  to  make  it  clear 
at  once  that  it  was  no  longer  the  tool  of  Jay  Gould.  It 
was  necessary  to  its  owner's  plan  that  he  should  make 
it  equally  clear  that  The  World  would  be  no  Jack  Cade 
of  journalism. 

Under  the  heading  "True  Democracy"  the  first  issue 
under  Mr.  Pulitzer's  control  mapped  the  course  he  in- 
tended to  pursue: 

Democracy,  sometimes  from  ignorance,  more  frequently 
from  malice,  has  been  represented  as  radicalism  and  destructive- 
ness.  It  is  nothing  of  the  kind.  True  democracy,  based  on 
equal  rights,  recognizes  the  millionaire  and  the  railroad  mag- 
nate as  just  as  good  as  any  other  man  and  as  fully  entitled 
to  protection  for  his  property  under  the  law.  But  true  democ- 
racy will  not  sanction  the  swallowing  up  of  liberty  by  property 
any  more  than  the  swallowing  up  of  property  by  communism. 

v  There  was  no  lack  of  specific  occasions  to  make  good 
a  promise  to  espouse  true  democracy.  If  in  the  crucial 
first  months  of  its  career  it  scored  the  "  scandalous  mis- 
management" of  the  New  York  Central  Railroad,  The 


TRUE    DEMOCRACY  13 

World  denounced  as  hotly  the  sham  radicalism  of  Ben 
Butler  in  Massachusetts,  which  was  so  soon  narrowly  to 
miss  involving  the  whole  country  in  misfortune.  If  it 
attacked  the  Ramapo  Water  Company's  scheme  to  exploit 
the  city,  prelude  of  a  more  famous  later  fight,  it  also 
assailed  the  " silver  kings"  for  the  manipulation  that 
gave  currency  to  the  trade-dollar.  If  it  exposed  star- 
route  frauds  in  the  Post-office  Department,  neither  had 
it  any  mercy  for  greenbackism  or  repudiation.  If  it 
explained  why  the  police  could  not  break  into  Wall  Street 
gambling-houses  and  cart  away  the  apparatus  because 
"The  law  makes  a  distinction  in  gambling;  faro  is 
forbidden,  roulette  is  ruled  out,  poker  is  prohibited, 
but  margins  are  sanctioned  by  law,  and  corners  are 
legitimate/'  it  also  lost  no  opportunity  of  disclaiming 
tolerance  for  dangerous  methods  of  gaining  popular  aims. 

It  was  fortunate  for  the  new  venture  that  1883  was  an 
off  year  in  politics.  With  its  limited  circulation  and  feeble 
equipment  it  could  have  done  little  then  to  further  its 
policies.  Indeed,  there  was  but  scant  time  to  prepare 
for  the  struggle  of  the  following  year.  To  the  weakening 
of  the  dominant  party,  and  especially  to  the  exposure  of 
corruption  and  the  building  up  of  a  public  sentiment  that 
would  cure  the  evil,  it  devoted  its  keenest  invective. 

It  was  Democracy  in  the  nation  which  The  World  sought 
to  foster  as  the  first  condition  of  reform.  For  a  time 
it  waged  no  war  against  local  organizations  of  Democracy. 
If  the  federal  government  was  to  be  turned  over  to  other 
hands  there  was  need  in  New  York  of  the  help  of  every 
Democratic  faction,  and  none  of  these  factions  was  so 
potent  for  harm,  even  locally,  as  the  Republican  machine 
with  its  allies  commonly  in  power  in  Washington  and 
Albany. 

Tammany  Hall  had  been  chastened  by  the  fate  of  its 
members  who,  with  Tweed,  had  filched  from  the  people 
and  had  fled  their  wrath,  and  John  Kelly,  its  boss,  was 


14  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

generally  considered  as  honest  as  he  was  obstinate.  He 
had  favored  reform,  and  for  that  reason  was  the  logical 
leader  of  the  Hall  after  the  debacle. 

Irving  Hall  bore  no  good  repute,  but  was  the  weakest 
of  the  three. 

The  County  Democracy  generally  acted  with  the  up- 
state Democrats.  Such  men  as  Abram  S.  Hewitt  and 
Edward  Cooper  were  prominent  in  its  counsels,  and  it 
furnished  most  of  the  reform  mayors  that  followed  Tweed's 
downfall.  Though  Samuel  J.  Tilden  was  friendly  with 
Kelly,  the  County  Democracy  most  nearly  represented  his 
policies.  Yet,  in  spite  of  the  general  acceptance  of  this 
faction  as  best  representing  New  York  Democracy,  The 
World  protested  in  the  interest  of  harmony  against  the 
Robert  Roosevelt  resolution  which  in  1883  passed  the 
state  committee  by  a  bare  majority,  committing  that 
body  in  advance  to  accept  as  " regular"  the  seventy- two 
delegates  of  the  County  Democracy  in  the  state  conven- 
tion. The  party  nominations  in  that  year  were  unim- 
portant, but  with  1884  in  view  The  World  urged  har- 
mony in  national  matters  upon  the  factions. 

Besides  turning  its  searchlight  upon  rottenness  in  the 
party  in  power  The  World  had  to  meet  in  the  preliminary 
tactics  of  the  Presidential  campaign  three  questions  of 
importance:  the  question  of  the  tariff,  the  question  of 
the  candidates,  the  question  of  Southern  rights  within 
the  Union  and  the  "  bloody  shirt.7' 

It  may  seem  strange  that  at  so  recent  a  date  the 
" Southern  Brigadier"  was  still  a  bugaboo.  But  the  issue 
had  its  practical  effect  and  must  be  considered.  Its  sur- 
vival might  be  a  perversion  of  justice  and  common  sense, 
but  its  influence  in  swaying  the  people  could  not  be  ignored. 
In  the  South  the  white  aristocrat  and  former  slave- 
holder was  the  natural  leader  of  the  people  until  Democ- 
racy could  adjust  itself  to  new  conditions.  Carpet-baggism 
had  unleashed  upon  the  late  Confederate  states  the  most 


TRUE    DEMOCRACY  15 

shocking  corruption,  which  honest  Southern  men  could 
less  easily  forgive  than  the  hard  blows  dealt  in  the  war. 
The  nation  had  need  of  the  sense  of  honor  and  the  political 
acumen  of  the  best  men  of  the  South.  How  was  it  to 
resume  the  employment  of  them  in  the  public  service? 

The  Republicans  had  sharpened  sarcasm  as  a  shrewd 
weapon  against  themselves  by  their  readiness  to  take  up 
Mahone  and  Riddleberger,  who  won  a  brief  success  in 
Virginia,  fusing  the  Republicans  and  a  portion  of  the 
Democracy  for  "  read  justing"  the  state  debt.  As  The 
World  remarked  of  "Two  Kinds  of  Rebels"  the  "fiercest 
Southern  brigadier  is  a  patriotic  American  citizen,  en- 
titled to  enjoy  equal  rights  with  the  patriots  of  Ohio  or 
Massachusetts  and  to  hold  public  office,  provided  he  will 
ally  himself  politically  with  the  Republican  party." 

As  to  the  tariff  The  World  pinned  its  faith  to  the 
Seymour  doctrine  of  1868.  Upon  a  pronounced  tariff- 
for-revenue  plank,  such  as  Frank  Hurd  and  other  ex- 
tremists were  urging,  the  Democrats  could  not  win; 
and  to  win,  for  the  house-cleaning  that  might  follow 
victory,  was  a  duty.  Even  the  issue  of  a  lower  tariff  was 
not  quite  so  clearly  defined  as  it  has  since  become.  Not 
until  nearly  a  decade  later  did  the  trust  movement  get 
fully  under  way,  which  was  to  "kill  competition  and 
capitalize  the  corpse." 

A  moderate  reduction  of  the  tariff  could  only  be  looked 
for  from  Democrats,  and  only  from  the  reforming  wing 
of  the  Democracy.  During  the  Ohio  campaign  of  1883 
The  World  especially  commended  the  tariff  plank  adopted 
by  the  Democrats.  After  the  election  in  October  it 
reminded  the  Republicans  that  their  alarm  lest  the  tariff 
be  lost  sight  of  was  unfounded,  and  said: 

An  election  has  been  held  this  week  in  Ohio.  The  Democrats 
met  last  June  to  nominate  candidates  and  construct  a  plat- 
form. In  the  platform  was  the  following  plank: 


16  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

"  We  favor  a  tariff  for  revenue,  limited  to  the  necessities  of  a 
government  economically  administered,  and  so  adjusted  in  its 
application  as  to  prevent  unequal  burdens,  encourage  productive 
interests  at  home  and  afford  just  compensation  to  labor ,  but  not 
to  create  or  foster  monopolies." 

Upon  a  full  vote  of  the  State,  after  more  than  three  months' 
thoughtful  consideration,  the  people  of  Ohio  have  indorsed 
this  tariff  plank  by  over  12,000  majority. 

It  has  won  a  glorious  victory  in  Ohio  this  year.  It  will  win 
a  yet  more  glorious  victory  in  the  Union  next  year. 

The  World's  championship  of  the  Ohio  platform  was 
more  than  a  stirring  voice  in  the  preliminary  struggle  of 
1883.  It  heartened  the  national  Democracy  for  the  greater 
contest.  It  blazed  the  way  for  Grover  Cleveland's  tariff 
policy  and  message. 

Bound  up  with  the  tariff  was  the  question  of  the  can- 
didates. With  the  House  of  Representatives  Democratic 
and  a  great  wave  of  discontent  sweeping  the  country, 
there  was  a  chance  for  Democratic  success  at  the  polls 
in  the  Presidential  year  if  the  party  could  be  restrained 
from  blundering.  The  first  Democratic  President  after 
the  war  must  come  from  the  genuinely  Democratic  wing 
of  the  party,  and  not  from  the  "  assistant  Republicans,"  of 
whom  Samuel  J.  Randall,  of  Philadelphia,  was  the 
chief  representative.  Months  before  the  Speakership 
contest  in  December  we  find  The  World  on  May  17th 
making  its  position  unmistakable: 

We  oppose  Mr.  Randall's  election  because  he  is  not  in  accord 
with  the  Democracy  in  its  opposition  to  the  encroachments  of 
corporate  monopolies.  It  is  unquestionably  true  that  there 
is  a  monopolistic  wing  of  the  Democratic  party.  It  is  equally 
true  that  its  principles  and  objects  are  offensive  to  the  great 
mass  of  the  party.  Mr.  Randall's  interests  are  identified  with 
the  monopolies  of  his  own  State,  and  his  sentiments  are  friendly 
to  them  rather  than  to  the  people. 


TRUE    DEMOCRACY  17 

Such  considerations,  in  which  the  position  of  the  tariff 
reformers  was  masked  behind  the  popular  cry  of  anti- 
monopoly,  prevailed,  and  the  election  of  John  G.  Carlisle 
as  Speaker,  in  December,  1883,  put  the  reformers  in  con- 
trol of  the  party.  This  wing  of  the  party  in  the  autumn 
elections  had  won  encouraging  victories.  In  its  search 
for  Democratic  Presidential  material  and  to  recruit  the 
ranks  for  the  coming  struggle  The  World  had  entered 
heart  and  soul  into  the  campaigns  of  Leon  Abbett  for 
Governor  in  New  Jersey  and  George  Hoadly  in  Ohio. 
Thus  it  gave  notice  of  its  intent  to  be  not  a  local  but  a 
national  power,  and  it  aided  greatly  in  their  campaigns. 
The  political  revolt  which  in  1882  had  swept  a  Democratic 
House  of  Representatives  into  office  still  had  the  force 
to  secure  the  choice  of  these  two  strong  Democratic 
governors  in  states  counted  upon  by  the  Republicans  in 
Presidential  years. 

More  pivotal  were  the  two  great  doubtful  states  of 
New  York  and  Indiana.  No  election,  it  was  held,  could 
be  carried  without  their  electoral  votes.  The  attempt  of 
1880  to  win  upon  a  tariff-for-re venue  plank,  with  a  can- 
didate who  assured  the  country  that  the  tariff  was  a 
local  issue,  had  so  disastrously  failed  that  there  was  little 
danger  of  its  repetition.  But  there  was  danger  of  an 
attempt  to  angle  for  New  York's  vote  by  the  nomina- 
tion of  Mr.  Tilden,  the  unseated  victor  of  1876,  never  a 
robust  man  and  now  nearing  his  seventieth  year.  Of 
this  movement  The  World  said  on  August  28th: 

The  western  Democratic  sentiment  reported  in  our  special 
correspondence  from  Saratoga  as  in  favor  of  the  old  ticket  is 
based  on  what  old  Bill  Allen  would  call  a  "  barren  ideality." 
This  sentiment  takes  the  shape  of  asserting  that  the  old  ticket 
was  defeated  by  fraud.  This  is  true.  Then  it  asserts  that  the 
fraud  can  be  rebuked  only  by  nominating  the  victims  of  that 
fraud.  This  is  a  fallacy.  The  real  victims  of  the  fraud  were 
not  the  two  eminent  citizens  who  were  cheated  out  of  their 


18  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

offices,  but  the  millions  of  honest  Democratic  voters  who  were 
cheated  out  of  their  votes. 

'  Throughout  this  year  of  preparation  The  World  made 
it  clear  that  it  was  ready  to  support  Mr.  Tilden  if  he 
were  nominated,  but  it  cast  about  for  other  material- 
first  and  far  foremost,  of  course,  Grover  Cleveland,  the 
" tidal- wave"  Governor  of  New  York,  then  John  G. 
Carlisle,  Governor  Hoadly,  and  others,  as  they  succes- 
sively rode  upon  the  crest  of  some  wave  of  public  triumph. 
And  always,  day  after  day,  it  poured  upon  the  Repub- 
lican party  the  full  fire  of  its  batteries.  The  extracts 
that  follow,  taken  at  intervals  throughout  the  year,  may 
do  more  than  illustrate  the  skill  of  its  attack.  They 
may  remind  us  how  vital  was  the  need  of  such  advocacy 
in  a  period  of  great  political  unrest: 

Will  not  the  people  remember  that  Roscoe  Conkling  —  in 
intellect  a  giant  among  pygmies,  in  public  life  an  honest  man 
in  the  midst  of  corruption  and  rascality — has  been  retired  by 
his  own  party  to  private  life?  That  Bristow,  who  exposed 
the  Whisky  Ring  frauds,  has  been  politically  killed  by  the 
Republican  organization?  That  Dorsey,  Brady,  "Lo"  Ses- 
sions, and  A.  D.  Barber — the  two  former  on  trial,  the  two  latter 
under  indictments  that  will,  probably,  never  be  tried — are 
still  active  and  powerful  in  the  Republican  organization?— 
June  5,  1883. 

The  party  Judge  Foraker  represents  has  been  plundering  the 
Government  for  twenty-three  years.  Its  plunder  commenced 
with  war  contracts,  shoddy  uniforms,  shoddy  blankets,  and 
"cooked-up"  rifles  without  any  connection  between  the  lock 
and  the  barrel.  It  has  been  continued  through  whisky  rings, 
subsidy  rings,  Treasury  rings,  Interior  Department  rings, 
Credit  Mobilier  rings,  Washington  District  rings,  public- 
building  rings  and  star-route  rings,  down  to  the  star-route 
trial  farce  and  raids  upon  the  Treasury  by  some  of  the  Govern- 
ment lawyers. — June  26,  1883. 


TRUE    DEMOCRACY  19 

From  time  to  time  the  leaders  of  the  Republican  party  hold 
conventions  in  which  they  formulate  certain  moral  axioms  and 
platitudes  which  they  call  the  platform  of  the  party. 

The  real  platform  of  the  party,  however,  is  expressed  in  pri- 
vate and  personal  letters  exchanged  between  these  leaders  after 
the  mummery  of  the  convention  is  over.  This,  the  real  plat- 
form, may  be  written  in  one  line — "We  want  money." 

Elaine  writes  to  Dorsey  that  in  failing  to  send  money  to 
Maine  he  is  "imperiling  the  whole  campaign." 

Allison  writes  to  Jewell:  "Money  must  be  had  and  sent  to 
Indiana." 

Stewart  Woodford  writes  to  Jewell  from  West  Virginia: 
"With  $25,000  Sturgis  and  Atkinson  can  make  an  effective 
campaign." 

John  F.  Lewis,  Mahone's  lieutenant,  writes:  "The  expendi- 
ture of  $50,000  will  insure  the  electoral  vote  of  Virginia  for 
Garfield  and  Arthur.  'Help  us,  Cassius,  or  we  sink.7" 

Mr.  Henderson,  of  Iowa,  writes  to  Dorsey:  "Put  money  in 
thy  purse." 

Richard  Smith,  of  the  Cincinnati  Gazette,  who  has  been 
called  the  Good  Deacon  Richard  Smith,  was  alive  to  the  need 
of  money.  He  writes:  "There  should  be  $50,000  judiciously 
placed  in  each  of  these  States  [Ohio  and  Indiana]  within  the 
next  ten  days."  .  .  .  Everybody  wanted  money.  What  did 
they  want  it  for? 

The  Republican  party  claims  to  have  saved  the  nation,  to 
have  paid  off  the  debt,  settled  the  finances  and  pensioned 
the  soldiers.  It  has  held  power  for  twenty-odd  years.  It 
has  taken  credit  to  itself  for  the  prosperity  of  the  country;  has 
had  all  the  support  of  capital,  of  protected  interests,  of  the 
army  of  office-holders  and  of  all  privileged  classes. 

Yet  when  a  national  election  came  around,  when  a  great 
national  battle  was  to  be  fought,  the  grand  old  party  could  find 
only  one  battle-cry.  Danger  of  defeat  changed  all  its  boasting 
into  abject  terror  and  its  platform  shrank  to  a  single  line: 

Resolved,  That  we  must  have  money. — August  30, 1883. 

"  J.  Warren  Keifer,  of  Ohio,  is  a  corrupt  and  shameless  man," 
said  the  Republican  Times  yesterday. 


20  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

On  the  same  day  the  party  of  moral  ideas — the  grand  old 
party — voted  almost  unanimously  for  J.  Warren  Keifer,  of 
Ohio,  for  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. — December 
4,  1883. 

Such  hammering  won  public  approval.  Within  one 
week  from  the  time  when  Mr.  Pulitzer,  taking  hold  of  a 
moribund  journal  of  high  literary  quality  but  negligible 
influence,  promised  to  "  serve  and  battle  for  the  people 
with  earnest  sincerity"  he  had  shaped  a  course  which  was 
to  hearten  Democracy  and  hasten  political  independence; 
within  six  months  the  success  of  his  venture  was  assured; 
within  a  year  it  was  a  marvel  in  the  journalistic  field; 
within  eighteen  months  it  had  caused  the  election  of  the 
first  Democratic  President  since  the  Civil  War,  as  that 
President  appreciatively  acknowledged. 


Ill 

GROVER  CLEVELAND 

Mr.  Cleveland's  Remarkable  Rise  to  Political  Power — Tilden's  Weakness 
as  a  Candidate— Cleveland  and  Hoadly  as  a  Ticket — "No  Free  Whisky" 
— Elaine  and  Republican  ''Principles" — Theodore  Roosevelt's  Dilemma — 
Tammany's  Unavailing  Opposition  —  "We  Love  Him  Most  for  the 
Enemies  He  Has  Made"  —  Butler  and  the  Prohibitionists  —  The  Fisher 
Letters  —  "Rum,  Romanism,  and  Rebellion"  —  " Belshazzar' s  Feast" — 
"The  World"  Not  a  Cleveland  Organ— Mr.  Cleveland's  Public  Tribute  to 
"The  World" — Mr.  Pulitzer's  Insistence  Upon  Independence. 

STEPHEN  GROVER  CLEVELAND  was  born  in  Caldwell, 
New  Jersey,  March  17,  1837.  There  were  nine  children 
in  the  family,  and  after  the  death  of  his  father,  a  Pres- 
byterian clergyman,  straitened  means  prevented  the 
future  President  from  obtaining  a  college  education.  He 
became  office-boy  in  a  Buffalo  law  firm,  and  in  1859  was 
admitted  to  the  bar.  In  1863  he  was  elected  assistant 
district  attorney  in  Erie  County,  and  in  1869  sheriff.  In 
1873  he  resumed  the  practice  of  the  law.  In  1881  he  was 
nominated  for  Mayor  of  Buffalo  and  elected  as  a  Demo- 
crat in  a  community  usually  Republican.  He  was  not 
especially  ambitious;  political  tasks  came  to  him  un- 
sought and  were  accepted  in  the  line  of  public  duty. 
He  was  an  excellent  mayor,  upright  and  painstaking. 

In  1882  the  Republican  party  in  New  York  was  rent  by 
the  Stalwart-Halfbreed  war,  and  President  Arthur  was 
accused  of  forcing  upon  the  state  convention  the  nomina- 
tion for  governor  of  Charles  J.  Folger,  a  man  of  ability 
but  devoid  of  magnetism,  his  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
and  a  Stalwart.  The  Democrats  named  the  reform 


22  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

Mayor  of  Buffalo,  and  Mr.  Cleveland  was  elected  by 
192,854  votes.  In  Albany  he  had  made  an  excellent 
record  by  his  messages,  and  especially  by  his  vetoes,  when 
the  young  journalist  who  was  to  elect  him  President  came 
to  New  York. 

Throughout  1883  The  World  watched  Cleveland's  course 
with  keen  appreciation  of  its  strength  and  honesty. 
Here  was  Presidential  material  placed  where  it  was  most 
available,  in  the  greatest  debatable  state.  But  New  York's 
favorite  son  was  still  the  cheated  Tilden.  The  senti- 
mental appeal  of  his  wrongs  at  the  hands  of  the  Electoral 
Commission  was  almost  irresistible. 

As  early  as  June  2,  1883,  The  World,  stating  its  faith  in 
" principles,  not  personalities/'  said: 

Mr.  Tilden  is  still  a  fine  intellectuality.  He  represents  a 
sentiment.  He  has  a  great  party  behind  him.  .  .  .  He  has 
the  admiration  of  thousands  who  see  and  feel  and  know  nothing 
else  except  that  he  was  fairly  elected  in  1876.  He  has  enormous 
wealth.  But  with  all  that  he  has  no  more  chance  of  ever 
again  becoming  President  than  Napoleon  III.  had  of  regaining 
the  French  crown  after  Sedan. 

Revolutions  never  go  backward. 

Mr.  Tilden's  Sedan  was  when  he  consented  to  the  Electoral 
Commission.  His  Chiselhurst  is  Graystone. 

During  the  summer  The  World  continued  to  point  out 
Mr.  Tilden's  weakness.  He  "  practically  ceased  to  be  a 
leader  when  he  lost  the  Presidency.  Since  then  his 
mouth  has  been  closed,  and  he  utterly  refused  to  advise  and 
lead  his  party  on  any  question."  Here  appears  the  new 
editor's  usual  insistence  upon  leaders  and  ideas.  "Mr. 
Tilden,"  the  argument  continued,  "has  claims  upon  the 
sympathies  of  Democrats.  He  is  a  real  thinker.  But 
he  is  not  a  party  leader  on  any  issue  of  the  hour.  His 
great  effort  is  to  conceal  his  ideas.  After  all,  ideas  lead 
parties,  not  men." 


GROVER    CLEVELAND  23 

A  leader  of  a  more  modern  type,  bolder  and  more  uncom- 
promising, appealed  to  The  World.  "Does  any  Repub- 
lican really  believe,"  it  asked,  "that  Grover  Cleveland, 
elected  in  1882  by  193,000  majority  over  the  Republican 
candidate,  and  with  a  clean  record  for  honesty,  capacity, 
and  economy  in  his  administration  of  the  State  govern- 
ment, could  be  defeated  in  New  York  in  1884?" 

Again  in  October  The  World,  conceding  that  Mr.  Tilden 
was  still  master  of  the  nomination,  but  contemplating  the 
possibility  of  his  withdrawal,  spoke  of  him  as  a  maker  of 
Presidents: 

Mr.  Tilden  might  name  George  Hoadly.  But  will  not  his 
shrewdness  shrink  from  the  needless  risk  of  the  October  election 
in  Ohio? 

Mr.  Tilden  may  make  choice  of  Grover  Cleveland,  having  an 
eye  to  the  vital  importance  of  strength  in  New  York. 

In  this  event  is  it  not  probable  that  the  next  Democratic 
Presidential  ticket  may  be  graced  by  the  names  of  the  two 
greatest  Governors  in  the  United  States — greatest  in  brains,  in 
character,  in  the  magnificence  of  their  victories — Grover 
Cleveland,  of  New  York,  and  George  Hoadly,  of  Ohio? 

Cleveland  and  Hoadly  was,  in  fact,  The  World's  "slate." 
As  to  the  issues  of  the  campaign,  they  were  clearly  indi- 
cated after  the  1883  election.  The  Treasury  surplus  had 
become  so  great  as  to  threaten  the  Republican  party 
with  the  necessity  of  revising  the  tariff  as  a  revenue 
measure.  In  January,  1884,  the  New  York  Sun,  on 
behalf  of  the  Randall  or  high-tariff  Democracy,  suggested 
the  removal  of  internal-revenue  taxation  as  a  Democratic 
policy.  The  World  was  quick  to  brand  this  proposal 
under  the  heading  of  "No  Free  Whisky."  To  this  it 
added  the  ringing  popular  cry:  "Turn  the  rascals  out!" 
It  urged  the  Democratic  House  of  Representatives,  which 
was  making  an  excellent  record  for  economy  and  efficiency, 
to  provide  campaign  material  by  exposing  corruption: 


24  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

It  has  been  admitted  by  the  ex-secretary  of  the  Republican 
National  Committee  that  in  the  election  of  1880  the  State  of 
Indiana  was  carried  for  the  Republicans  by  bribery  and  cor- 
ruption. Investigate! 

It  has  been  admitted  by  the  Republicans  that  a  corruption 
fund  of  $400,000  was  raised  in  New  York  City,  which  was 
carried  to  Indiana  and  used  to  "  induce  men  to  change  their 
opinions  and  their  votes."  Investigate! 

It  has  been  charged  that  the  present  United  States  Minister 
to  France,  Levi  P.  Morton,  bought  his  appointment  with  the 
share  he  contributed  to  that  fund  and  his  efforts  in  securing 
other  subscriptions.  Investigate! 

It  has  been  charged  that  two  prominent  speculators  interested 
in  suits  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  involving 
millions  of  dollars  paid  $100,000  toward  Garfield's  election 
expenses  in  consideration  of  his  pledge  to  make  appointments 
to  that  court  acceptable  to  them,  and  that  a  judge  friendly  to 
them  (Stanley  Matthews)  was  actually  appointed  in  conformity 
with  the  bargain.  Investigate! 

As  early  as  April  7th  The  World  foresaw  that  "the 
chances  are  that  the  candidate  of  the  Republican  party 
will  be  James  G.  Elaine. "  It  felt  for  his  claims  a  cer- 
tain sympathy  "Because  he  is  manifestly  the  choice  of  the 
great  bulk  of  his  party  and  has  the  Federal  patronage  and 
the  machines  against  him.  Because  he  was  the  choice 
of  the  majority  of  Republicans  in  1876  and  1880,  and 
on  each  occasion  was  cheated  out  of  the  nomination  by 
machine  methods." 

When  the  Republican  national  convention  met  Mr. 
Blaine  proved  to  be  the  leader  in  popular  favor.  Manipu- 
lation could  no  longer  balk  his  candidacy,  and  he  was 
without  great  difficulty  nominated  June  6th  on  the  fourth 
ballot.  The  World  was  under  no  illusions  as  to  his 
strength: 

Before  the  canvass  is  fully  opened  it  will  be  clear  to  the 
plainest  understanding  that  James  G.  Blaine  represents  not  only 


GROVER    CLEVELAND  25 

the  machine  of  the  Republican  party,  but  the  demoralizing  and 
corruptive  power  of  Wall  Street,  the  money  interests,  the 
monopolies,  corporations,  and  all  protected,  privileged,  special 
classes.  All  that  is  reprehensible  and  base  in  our  demoralized 
political  system  will  naturally  rally  to  his  support. 

Will  he  be  defeated? 

That  is  clearly  in  the  hands  of  Democrats. 

If  the  Democratic  candidate  for  the  Presidency  should  be 
precisely  what  Mr.  Elaine  is  not — a  man  of  the  highest  judicial 
mind,  the  most  elevated  character  and  purposes — he  would 
doubtless  attract  the  support  of  many  self-respecting  indepen- 
dent Republicans,  carry  New  York  and  other  doubtful  States 
and  be  elected. 

Of  the  fighting  issues  The  World  had  said: 

The  Republican  platform  starts  with  a  truism  which  no 
person  will  attempt  to  gainsay: 

"The  Republicans  of  the  United  States,  in  national  conven- 
tion assembled,  renew  their  allegiance  to  the  principles  upon 
which  they  have  triumphed  in  six  successive  Presidential 
elections." 

Among  those  principles  are  the  coercion  of  a  number  of  the 
States  at  the  point  of  the  Federal  bayonet. 

The  arbitrary  use  of  the  enormous  Federal  patronage  de- 
signedly increased  by  Republican  administrations  as  a  means  of 
perpetuating  the  power  of  the  party. 

The  corrupt  appliance  of  money  wrung  from  public  officers 
by  compulsory  assessments,  or  collected  from  dishonest  Govern- 
ment contractors,  favored  corporations,  and  pampered  national 
banks. 

The  theft  of  the  Presidency  by  aid  of  fraud  and  forgery  when 
beaten  by  the  people. 

The  unblushing  purchase  of  elections  with  an  enormous 
corruption  fund  raised  by  the  sale  of  Supreme  Court  judge- 
ships,  Cabinet  offices  and  diplomatic  appointments. 

Colonization  of  voters,  false  counting  and  other  offenses 
against  the  purity  of  the  ballot-box. 

These  are  the  "principles"  upon  which  the  Republican  party 

3 


26  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

has  "triumphed,"  despite  the  desire  of  the  people  to  drive  it 
from  the  Government,  and  these  are  the  "principles"  on  some 
of  which  it  founds  the  desperate  hope  of  a  continuance  of  power. 

Many  eminent  Republicans  repudiated  the  nomination 
of  Mr.  Elaine  because  his  record  would  not  bear  scrutiny. 
Carl  Schurz,  Benjamin  H.  Bristow,  George  William 
Curtis,  Charles  W.  Eliot,  and  Franklin  MacVeagh  led  into 
the  ranks  of  those  political  independents  whom  it  was  the 
fashion  to  call  " Mugwumps"  a  group  of  the  best  men  of 
the  party.  Some  of  these  had  followed  Greeley  in  1872; 
some  were  for  the  first  time  breaking  away  from  party 
trammels.  Among  these  latter  the  country  looked  with 
interest  for  the  name  of  a  young  New  York  assemblyman 
who  had  hotly  opposed  Blaine  in  the  convention.  They 
looked  in  vain.  Theodore  Roosevelt  decided  to  accept 
Blaine,  but  not  without  careful  balancing  of  opposing 
considerations.  It  was  the  political  crisis  of  his  life;  at 
the  early  age  of  twenty-five  he  turned  to  the  machine 
men  of  his  party,  with  whom  for  almost  thirty  years  he 
was  generally  to  stand  in  agreement. 

Attention  turned  to  the  Democratic  convention.  Mr. 
Tilden's  expected  refusal  to  accept  a  nomination  came 
in  a  letter  to  Daniel  Manning,  chairman  of  the  New  York 
State  Democratic  Committee.  The  way  was  clear  for 
Cleveland.  The  World  on  June  17th  again  presented  the 
claims  of  the  man  of  " Manifest  Destiny": 

The  name  of  Grover  Cleveland  has  suggested  itself  naturally 
to  Democrats  as  presenting  pre-eminent  availability.  As 
Governor  of  the  State  Mr.  Cleveland  has  displayed  a  straight- 
forward, unpretending  desire  to  do  his  duty,  without  regard 
to  political  consequences  and  without  affectation  of  demagogism. 
.  .  .  When  a  blathering  ward  politician  objects  to  Governor 
Cleveland  because  he  is  more  a  "  Reformer"  than  a  " Democrat" 
he  furnishes  the  best  argument  in  favor  of  his  nomination  and 
election. 


GROVER    CLEVELAND  27 

And  again  on  the  following  day:  "Grover  Cleveland  is 
available,  not  assailable."  On  July  3d,  just  before  the 
Democratic  national  convention  was  to  meet,  an  article 
appeared  telling  "Why  The  World  Likes  Cleveland."  It 
ran  as  follows : 

He  is  a  poor  man. 

He  came  from  plain,  common  people. 

He  has  no  so-called  aristocratic  lineage  or  illustrious  ancestry, 
but  owes  everything  he  is  to  his  own  efforts  and  his  own  char- 
acter. ..." 

He  is  a  poor  politician  because  an  absolutely  honest,  con- 
scientious reformer. 

He  has  no  lifelong  political  record  to  defend  or  explain.  .  .  . 

He  does  not  believe  that  even  a  moderate  protective  tariff 
is  unconstitutional  and  "  legalized  communism."  Quite  the 
contrary. 

He  does  not  speculate  in  stocks,  does  not  build  railroads,  did 
never  sit  with  Blaine  as  an  associate  in  the  same  directory. 
Quite  the  contrary. 

He  is  not  popular  with  the  local  "machines"  and  " politi- 
cians" whose  special  interests  he  has  disregarded  whenever 
the  public  welfare  demanded  it. 

He  is  certain  of  a  larger  Independent  and  disaffected  Repub- 
lican vote  than  any  other  Democrat  yet  born. 

He  is  more  apt  to  carry  New  York,  Connecticut  and  New 
Jersey  than  any  other  Democrat  who  can  be  named. 

He  is  certain  to  make  a  good  President — not  brilliant  and 
"  magnetic,"  but  repulsive  to  the  rascals  who  are  preying  upon 
the  Government  and  who  must  be  driven  out  of  Washington. 

He  is  certain  to  make  a  very  bad  President — for  all  the 
jobbers  and  corruptionists  and  on-the-make  partisans. 

There  was  need  of  such  advocacy;  Tammany,  under 
command  of  John  Kelly,  opposed  Cleveland,  and  the 
opposition  came  from  the  greatest  Democratic  stronghold 
of  the  country.  The  Hall  could  not  deliver  the  delegates 
of  the  state  under  the  unit  rule;  Greater  New  York  was 
yet  unmade;  Brooklyn  commonly  acted  with  the  rural 


28  THE   STORY   OF   A   PAGE 

Democrats  against  Tammany;  but  Tammany  was  a 
power.  " Personal  Comfort"  Grady  (the  late  Thomas 
F.  Grady,  whom  Mr.  Cleveland's  request  to  John  Kelly 
had  kept  out  of  the  New  York  Legislature  of  1884)  made 
a  speech  against  Cleveland  on  the  floor  of  the  conven- 
tion. It  was  then  that  Gen.  E.  S.  Bragg,  of  Wisconsin 
and  of  the  "Iron  Brigade,"  made  his  famous  retort:  "We 
love  him  most  for  the  enemies  he  has  made." 

The  Cleveland  forces  were  heartened  by  The  World's 
advocacy  and  by  assurance  from  Daniel  Manning  and 
others  of  Cleveland's  strength  in  New  York,  and  on 
July  10th  he  was  nominated  upon  the  second  ballot,  with 
Thomas  A.  Hendricks,  of  Indiana,  his  leading  convention 
opponent,  as  his  running-mate. 

The  Anti-Monopoly  party  convention,  on  May  14th, 
and  that  of  the  National  party,  legatee  of  the  Green- 
backers,  on  May  28th,  nominated  Benjamin  F.  Butler 
for  President.  On  June  30th,  after  Blaine's  nomination, 
The  Sun,  foreseeing  the  success  of  Cleveland  at  Chicago, 
had  announced  that  it  had  a  candidate,  "which  his  name 
it  is  Butler, ",  who  could  beat  Blaine.  Really  Butler's 
candidacy  was  in  Blaine's  favor,  as  calculated  to  draw 
its  support  largely  from  the  Democratic  ranks. 

The  Sun's  defection  was  serious.  It  was  a  very  able 
paper,  nominally  Democratic,  and  had  warmly  supported 
Mr.  Cleveland  in  1882.  The  Sun's  powerful  opposition, 
continued  throughout  the  campaign,  made  The  World  the 
mainstay  of  the  Cleveland  forces  in  the  pivotal  state. 

But  if  Democracy  had  an  enemy  in  Butler,  Republican- 
ism with  Blaine  was  pursued  by  a  Nemesis  of  its  own.  The 
Republican  platform  of  New  York  in  1883  had  promised 
to  submit  to  the  people  a  prohibitory  amendment  to  the 
state  constitution.  The  promise  was  broken  in  the  ses- 
sion of  1884,  Mr.  Roosevelt  having  introduced  as  a  sop  a 
high-license  bill  that  failed  to  pass.  This  evasion  caused 
much  ill-feeling  among  New  York  Prohibitionists  allied 


GROVER    CLEVELAND  29 

with  the  Republicans,  and  there  was  every  prospect  that 
the  Prohibition  candidate,  John  P.  St.  John,  would  get  a 
considerable  vote.  To  make  matters  worse  for  Elaine,  his 
own  state  on  September  8th  voted  upon  constitutional 
prohibition.  Maine  had  had  statutory  prohibition  since 
1854,  but  the  friends  of  the  policy  wanted  it  pegged  down 
in  the  constitution,  where  it  could  not  be  repealed  by 
act  of  legislature.  Mr.  Elaine  dodged  a  vote  in  his  home 
city,  and  these  extracts  from  The  World  show  how  quickly 
his  opponents  seized  upon  the  fact: 

The  Republican  party  of  Maine  yesterday  indorsed  by  a 
large  majority  the  proposed  amendment  to  the  Constitution 
which  forever  prohibits  within  the  State  the  manufacture  or  sale 
of  intoxicating  liquors — cider  excepted.  This  measure  was 
submitted  by  a  Republican  legislature.  It  was  indorsed  by 
the  Republican  party,  and  in  consideration  of  this  Neal  Dow, 
the  great  Prohibition  apostle,  advised  his  followers  to  abandon 
the  Prohibition  ticket  and  help  Mr.  Elaine  by  electing  his 
State  ticket. — September  9. 

(Elaine's)  pretense,  made  in  his  jubilee  speech  after  the  close 
of  the  polls,  that  the  Prohibition  question  should  be  kept  out 
of  politics,  and  that  for  that  reason  he  "decided  not  to  vote  at 
all  on  the  question,"  is  a  stupid  and  shallow  fraud.  Mr. 
Elaine  was  voting  as  a  citizen  of  Maine,  in  a  State  election,  on 
State  issues. — September  10. 

As  for  Butler,  "to  believe  that  he  could  secure  enough 
votes  to  insure  Elaine's  election  would  be  to  suppose  that 
the  working-men  of  the  country  are  destitute  of  brains 
or  that  the  Democratic  party  is  destitute  of  honesty." 
In  the  result  St.  John  received  in  New  York  State  24,999 
votes  and  in  the  nation  151,809;  Butler  in  New  York 
16,955  and  in  the  entire  country  133,825.  In  inflicting 
damage  upon  the  two  great  parties  they  were  nearly 
balanced. 


30  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

A  grave  issue  in  the  Blaine  campaign  arose  out  of  the 
usual  methods  of  corruption.  On  August  5th  The  World 
said: 

The  fact  that  the  "Stand  and  Deliver"  Committee  of  the 
Blaine  managers  is  applying  to  Government  employees  at  their 
residences  for  campaign  funds  instead  of  at  their  offices  proves 
beyond  dispute  that  the  political  blackmailers  are  sensible 
of  the  illegality  of  their  action. 

Larger  sums  were  contributed  by  financiers  from  in- 
terested motives.  "  There  is  no  safety  for  business  or 
capital,"  said  The  World,  "if  the  Republican  party 
method  of  buying  elections  with  money  contributed  by 
monopolies  is  allowed  to  continue  until  the  wrath  of  the 
people  rises  irresistibly  against  it." 

But  the  strongest  issue  with  the  people  was  that  which 
had  driven  so  many  Independents  to  revolt — the  financial 
recklessness  of  Mr.  Blaine  in  former  years.  He  had  been 
cartooned  by  Puck  as  "The  Tattooed  Man"  of  the 
Republican  Great  Moral  Show — tattooed  with  evidence  of 
the  carelessness  of  his  conduct  while  Representative  and 
Speaker — and  Republican  campaign  glee  clubs  had  been 
driven  to  the  expedient  of  singing  "The  Tattooed  Man 
Our  President  Shall  Be."  The  World  unearthed  the 
Blaine- Warren  Fisher  correspondence.  Unpleasant  read- 
ing about  a  candidate  for  President  of  the  United  States 
was  this  letter  from  Fisher  to  Blaine,  written  in  April,  1872: 

I  have  loaned  you  at  various  times,  when  you  were  comparatively 
poor,  very  large  sums  of  money,  and  never  have  you  paid  me  one 
dollar  from  your  own  pocket,  either  principal  or  interest.  I  have  paid 
sundry  amounts  to  others  to  whom  you  were  indebted,  and  these  debts 
you  have  allowed  to  stand  unpaid  like  the  notes  which  I  hold.  I 
have  placed  you  in  positions  whereby  you  have  received  very  large 
sums  of  money  without  one  dollar  of  expense  to  you,  and  you  ought 
not  to  forget  the  act  on  my  part.  Of  all  the  parties  connected  with 
the  Little  Rock  &  Fort  Smith  Railroad  no  one  has  been  so  fortunate 
as  yourself  in  obtaining  money  out  of  it. 


GROVER    CLEVELAND  31 

A  pitiable  chapter  in  American  history  is  the  Elaine 
campaign.  Not  without  sympathy  for  a  man  who  pos- 
sessed so  many  admirable  qualities  and  who  was  still 
to  render  valuable  public  service  can  one  read  to-day  the 
lashing  which  The  World  gave  Mr.  Elaine: 

But  now  comes  another  batch  of  telltale  letters.  In  them 
Elaine,  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  the  plumed 
knight,  crawls  a  beggar  at  the  feet  of  contractors  and  railroad 
jobbers.  He  solicits  money  from  Fisher  and  Josiah  Caldwell. 
"If  you  leave  this  burden  on  me  it  will  crush  me,"  he  cries. 
He  draws  unauthorized  drafts  on  Fisher.  "As  a  wholly  inno- 
cent third  party,  doing  my  best  to  act  as  a  sincere  and  steadfast 
friend  to  both  of  you,"  he  says,  "I  ought  not  to  be  left  exposed 
to  financial  ruin  and  personal  humiliation." 

"I  am  in  a  very  painful  and  embarrassed  situation,  growing 
out  of  my  connection  with  the  Fort  Smith  enterprise,"  he  writes 
to  Fisher;  and  he  prays  him  for  $36,000  land  bonds  and  $9,000 
first  mortgage  "which,"  he  says,  he  "needs  and  must  have." 
He  continues  to  dun  these  railroad  speculators  for  favors,  a 
persistent  beggar,  until  Mr.  Fisher  is  compelled  to  write  to 
him  and  tell  him  practically  that  he  is  a  dead-beat  and  can 
have  no  more. 

It  may  be  wondered  how  any  man  of  whom  such  words 
could  be  written  came  so  near  being  elected  President. 
Mr.  Elaine  had  long  been  the  idol  of  the  Republican  in 
the  ranks.  He  made  a  magnificent  personal  canvass. 
He  was  magnetic.  He  was  able.  He  was  aided  by  the 
prestige  and  power  of  a  party  which  had  behind  it  six 
Presidential  victories  in  succession;  by  a  large  and  com- 
pact body  of  office-holders;  by  the  use  of  money  when 
money  could  be  used  far  more  effectively  than  now; 
by  the  fact  that  many  Northern  men  still  believed  that 
the  country  was  menaced  by  "  Confederate  Brigadiers." 
It  was  true,  as  cynical  Republicans  said,  that  "there  was 
one  more  President  in  the  ' bloody  shirt/" 


32  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

For,  barring  accident,  Elaine  was  elected  as  the  cam- 
paign closed. 

That  accident  came  on  October  29th,  when  a  number  of 
clergymen  waited  upon  Mr.  Elaine  in  New  York  to  assure 
him  that  the  moral  sentiment  of  the  city  was  not  shocked 
by  the  disclosures  concerning  him.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Tiffany 
was  to  have  delivered  a  prepared  address.  Some  of  the 
ministers  objected  to  being  represented  by  Dr.  Tiffany, 
and  after  a  silly  wrangle  it  was  suggested  that  the  oldest 
man  present  should  do  the  talking.  This  was  Dr. 
Burchard,  of  the  Murray  Hill  Presbyterian  Church,  he 
who  immortalized  himself  in  American  pblitics  by  saying, 
"We  are  Republicans,  and  don't  propose  to  leave  our 
party  and  identify  ourselves  with  the  party  whose  ante- 
cedents have  been  Rum,  Romanism,  and  Rebellion." 

It  is  said  that  Mr.  Elaine,  quick  to  catch  a  political 
point,  started  at  these  words  and  thought  of  replying 
upon  the  spur  of  the  moment,  but  quickly  concluded  that 
it  was  wiser  to  let  them  pass,  hoping  that  they  would  do 
little  harm  so  late  in  the  campaign.  The  World  next 
morning  caused  him  to  regret  his  decision  by  publishing 
the  remark  with  caustic  comment.  "How  do  the  Demo- 
crats," it  asked,  "and  especially  those  of  Irish  birth  and 
descent  who  are  said  to  be  willing  to  support  Mr.  Elaine, 
relish  this  picture  of  the  party  to  which  they  have  adhered 
for  years?"  The  thrust  was  effective,  for  especial  efforts 
had  been  directed  to  organizing  Irish-American  clubs 
for  Elaine.  It  was  claimed  in  his  behalf  that  if  elected  he 
would  gratify  the  Celtic  hatred  of  Albion  by  "twisting 
the  lion's  tail,"  and  the  bait  had  been  swallowed.  Now 
the  work  was  all  but  undone. 

Powerful  in  its  crude  vigor  was  a  cartoon,  entitled 
"Belshazzar's  Feast,"  which  The  World  printed  in  the 
height  of  the  Burchard  excitement.  It  portrayed  the 
Republican  chiefs  in  the  robes  of  ancient  revelers  at  the 
banquet  of  privilege  with  Elaine  himself  in  close  confer- 


GROVER    CLEVELAND  33 

ence  with  Jay  Gould,  Commodore  Vanderbilt  and  others. 
The  newspaper  cartoon  was  then  an  innovation  in  New 
York,  and  the  "  feast "  caused  a  well-remembered  sen- 
sation. 

Cleveland  won  in  New  York  State,  which  was  decisive, 
by  but  1,047  votes.  The  defection  of  Roscoe  Conkling's 
Stalwart  friends  in  Oneida  County  and  elsewhere  was  held 
responsible  for  the  result.  A  more  cynical  view  was 
turned  regretfully  upon  the  pocket  borough  of  Supervisor 
John  Y.  McKane  in  Gravesend,  now  a  part  of  New  York 
City,  where  some  hundreds  of  votes  were  notoriously  for 
sale.  It  was  a  common  remark  in  Republican  circles, 
"if  we  had  known  how  close  it  was  going  to  be  we  could 
have  bought  the  McKane  vote  and  won  hands  down." 
For  some  days  the  claim  was  made  that  Elaine  was 
elected.  The  Democratic  girls  in  Vassar  College  who 
paid  their  bets  by  giving  a  feast  to  the  Republican  girls 
upon  the  election  figures  of  the  Tribune  were  not  the 
only  ones  of  their  party  faith  deceived. 

Some  Democrats,  alarmed  by  the  persistency  of  Re- 
publican newspapers  in  claiming  a  victory,  expressed  fears 
that  the  Republicans  would  count  in  Blaine  as  they  had 
counted  out  Tilden.  The  World  reminded  such  pessimists 
that: 

General  Grant  is  not  at  the  head  of  the  Government,  with  a 
General  Augur  in  command  of  United  States  bayonets  in  the 
States  to  be  stolen,  and  a  Don  Cameron  as  Secretary  of  War. 
Wells,  Packard  and  Kellogg  are  not  in  control  of  an  infamous 
Returning  Board  of  thieves  and  forgers  in  New  York,  Indiana, 
or  any  of  the  disputed  States.  Ferry,  of  Michigan,  is  not 
President  of  the  Senate. 

For  The  World  the  election  of  Cleveland  was  more  than 
an  ordinary  political  victory.  The  young  venture  drew 
the  attention  of  the  country.  Its  swift  leap  into  promi- 
nence and  power  gratified  the  public  taste  for  the  mar- 


34  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

velous  and  the  unexpected.  Its  contemporaries  of  the 
press,  trained  in  the  school  of  partisan  politics,  assumed 
that  President  Cleveland  would  look  to  The  World  as  his 
personal  organ;  most  of  them  considered  the  position 
desirable. 

Such  relationship  to  the  new  administration  was 
promptly  disclaimed.  "  The  World,"  it  said,  the  day  after 
election,  "seeks  no  favors,  patronage  or  office,  and  asks 
but  one  thing  of  President  Cleveland.  That  is  to  redeem 
the  promises  he  made,  and  which  The  World  made  on  his 
behalf,  that  he  would  lead  the  nation  away  from  corrup- 
tion and  to  a  restored,  a  reformed,  a  regenerated  real 
republic." 

But  the  theory  of  organship  would  not  so  easily  be 
refuted.  A  month  after  election  the  Boston  Traveler, 
familiar  with  the  relations  between  newspaper  -  offices 
and  custom-houses,  said,  "If  Governor  Cleveland  has 
an  official  organ,  one  authorized  to  speak  for  him  and 
to  outline  his  policy,  that  organ  is  the  New  York 
WarUL" 

The  World  replied  that  it  felt  complimented  by  the 
credit  given  it  for  effecting  a  needed  change  in  the  govern- 
ment. But  it  did  not  believe  in  one-man  power  or  one- 
man  newspaper  organs.  ' '  The  World, ' '  it  said, ' i  is  chained 
to  no  conqueror's  chariot.  It  will  gladly  and  zealously 
support  all  that  is  good  in  President  Cleveland's  adminis- 
tration. But  it  would  oppose  anything  that  should  be 
clearly  wrong  or  mistaken.  We  regard  the  editorship  of 
The  World  as  a  great  public  trust,  as  Mr.  Cleveland  re- 
gards the  Presidency." 

What  powerfully  appealed  to  Mr.  Pulitzer's  imagina- 
tion, what  he  wished  to  impress  upon  the  country,  was  the 
romance  of  Mr.  Cleveland's  swift  rise  as  a  result  of  direct 
appeal  to  the  people  and  trust  in  them.  Thus  after  the 
induction  into  office  of  the  new  President  in  the  following 
March  he  wrote: 


GROVER    CLEVELAND  35 

Grover  Cleveland,  who  is  now  President  of  the  United  States, 
was  four  years  ago  almost  unknown  outside  the  city  of  Buffalo. 
He  had  not  yet  been  elected  Mayor  of  that  city.  He  had  never 
figured  in  the  nation's  politics;  his  reputation,  whatever  it 
may  have  been,  was  local,  and  his  career  uneventful. 

He  is  now  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  fifty-five  millions  of  people, 
by  their  own  choice,  and  it  is  certain  that  they  selected  him 
without  reference  to  his  ambition. 

The  marvelous  rise  from  obscurity  to  pre-eminence  of  such  a 
man  has  all  the  interest  of  a  romance.  It  would  be  hard  to 
find  a  parallel  to  it  in  history.  Four  years  is  a  short  time  in 
which  to  make  such  a  prodigious  passage,  and  the  romance  has 
its  significance,  for  it  shows  that,  after  all,  ours  is  a  government 
of  the  people  and  for  the  people,  and  the  fitness  and  faithfulness 
that  shall  administer  the  Government  aright  ought  to  be  one 
of  the  proudest  results  of  a  nation  like  ours. 

Nearly  nineteen  years  later,  writing  at  Princeton  to 
The  World  for  publication  in  its  twentieth  anniversary 
number,  Mr.  Cleveland  thus  testified  to  its  "services  to 
Democracy "  in  the  campaign  of  1884: 

I  never  can  lose  the  vividness  of  my  recollection  of  the  conditions 
and  incidents  attending  the  Presidential  campaign  of  1884:  how 
thoroughly  Republicanism  was  intrenched;  how  brilliantly  it  was  led; 
how  arrogant  it  was;  and  how  confidently  it  encouraged  and  aided  a 
contingent  of  deserters  from  the  Democratic  ranks.  And  I  recall 
not  less  vividly  how  brilliantly  and  sturdily  The  World  then  fought  for 
Democracy;  and  in  this  the  first  of  its  great  party  fights  under  present 
proprietorship  it  was  here,  there,  and  everywhere  in  the  field,  showering 
deadly  blows  upon  the  enemy.  It  was  steadfast  in  zeal  and  untiring 
in  effort  until  the  battle  was  won;  and  it  was  won  against  such  odds 
and  by  so  slight  a  margin  as  to  reasonably  lead  to  the  belief  that 
no  contributing  aid  could  have  been  safely  spared.  At  any  rate,  the  contest 
was  so  close  it  may  be  said  without  reservation  that  if  it  had  lacked  the 
forceful  and  potent  advocacy  of  Democratic  principles  at  that  time  by 
the  New  York  "World"  the  result  might  have  been  reversed. 

Upon  the  receipt  in  Hamburg  of  copies  of  The  World 
containing  this  tribute  Mr.  Pulitzer  cabled  on  May  29th, 
for  publication  the  following  morning: 


36  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

Mr.  Cleveland  has  spoken  of  The  World's  service  to  the 
Democratic  party,  and  particularly  of  its  decisive  "  advocacy 
of  Democratic  principles,"  upon  an  occasion  critical  indeed 
to  him  and  to  the  Democracy.  Many  other  distinguished 
gentlemen  have  generously,  yet  mistakenly  praised  The 
World's  services  to  the  Democratic  party. 

I  say  mistakenly  because,  whatever  benefit  Mr.  Cleveland 
and  the  Democratic  party  received,  The  World  never  for  one 
moment  during  the  last  twenty  years  considered  itself  a  party 
paper.  It  promised  to  support  truly  Democratic  principles, 
truly  Democratic  ideas,  and  it  has  done  so,  and  will  do  so,  with 
entire  independence  of  bosses,  machines,  candidates  and  plat- 
forms, following  only  the  dictates  of  its  conscience. 

Five  years  later,  upon  The  World's  twenty-fifth  birth- 
day, May  10,  1908,  the  idea  finds  repetition: 

What  is  truly  Democratic? 

Not  party,  but  country.  Not  party,  but  humanity.  Not 
party,  but  liberty.  Not  party,  but  equality.  Not  party,  but 
equal  opportunity.  Not  party,  but  equal  justice. 


IV 

LIBERTY 

1885-1886 

The  Statue  of  Liberty,  a  New  Colossus  of  Rhodes— How  "The  World" 
Raised  the  Pedestal — Hill  and  the  Mugwumps — Civil-Service  Reformers 
Dissatisfied  with  Cleveland — The  Hungry  Horde  of  Office-Seekers — Tariff 
Reform  Delayed  by  a  Divided  Congress  —  Jake  Sharp  and  the  Boodle 
Aldermen — The  Labor  Troubles  of  1886 — Henry  George's  Candidacy  for 
Mayor — Theodore  Roosevelt's  First  Defeat. 

. 

IN  the  last  years  of  his  life  Joseph  Pulitzer  built  a  steam- 
yacht  in  the  hope  of  finding  upon  a  craft  especially  designed 
for  him  the  quiet  essential  to  his  shattered  health.     He  / 
named  it  Liberty. 

The  name  expressed  what  had  been  the  chief  concern 
of  his  life.  It  also  recalled  one  of  the  most  famous  of  The 
World's  early  exploits. 

In  the  early  seventies  fidouard  Laboulaye,  of  Paris,  » 
proposed  that  a  gigantic  statue  of  Liberty  Enlightening  the 
World  be  presented  by  the  people  of  France  to  the  people 
of  America,  to  "  declare  by  an  imperishable  memorial  the 
friendship  that  the  blood  spilled  by  our  fathers  sealed 
between  the  two  nations."  The  French  people  eagerly 
took  up  the  plan.  M.  Auguste  Bartholdi  was  commis- 
sioned to  model  the  statue.  Our  government  set  aside 
space  for  it  upon  Bedloe's  Island,  and  in  1877  a  committee 
was  formed  to  raise  funds  for  the  base.  Five  years  later, 
at  a  mass-meeting  called  by  this  committee,  November 
28,  1882,  William  M.  Evarts  said  of  the  statue: 


38  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

It  is  so  vast  and  stupendous  a  work  that  without  comparing  it  to 
some  well-known  object  the  mind  is  scarcely  able  to  conceive  of  it. 
The  statue  itself,  from  its  base  to  the  top  of  the  torch,  is  145  feet 
high  [151  feet  1  inch  as  erected;  with  pedestal,  305  feet  6  inches].  It 
is  but  135  feet  from  the  water-level  to  the  highest  point  in  the  span 
of  the  Brooklyn  Bridge,  so  that  this  statue,  if  placed  on  the  water-level, 
would  overtop  the  bridge  ten  feet.  It  is  40  feet  square  at  the  base. 
The  great  statue  known  as  the  seventh  wonder  of  the  world,  the 
Colossus  of  Rhodes,  was  erected  to  show  the  gratitude  of  the  people  of 
Rhodes  for  the  aid  given  them  by  a  friendly  power  in  their  struggles 
for  liberty.  That  work  cost  the  poor,  feeble  Rhodians  between 
$400,000  and  $500,000— twice  as  much  as  the  powerful  and  wealthy 
American  people  are  called  on  to  provide  for  the  proper  erection  of  the 
gift  of  the  French  nation. 

Neither  Mr.  Evarts's  eloquence  nor  the  labors  of  the 
committee  gave  Liberty  a  place  to  set  her  foot;  in  April, 
1883,  when  the  big  figure  was  almost  ready  to  ship  from 
France  and  work  upon  the  base  was  begun,  there  was  not 
nearly  enough  money  to  complete  it.  This  was  the  situa- 
tion when  Mr.  Pulitzer  arrived  in  New  York. 
X"""  The  Liberty  statue  appealed  to  him  with  singular  force. 
He  had  not  forgotten  how,  a  poor  boy  entering  Boston 
harbor  as  an  immigrant,  he  had  looked  eagerly  for  the 
Land  of  Promise  to  rise  upon  the  horizon.  He  could 
imagine  how  immigrant  boys  of  future  time  would  look 
up  at  the  great  figure  towering  over  New  York  Bay, 
embodying  an  idea  that  all  could  grasp.  He  felt  not 
sorrow  only,  but  shame  that  his  adopted  country  did  not 
respond  to  its  opportunity. 

Throughout  the  first  year  The  World  made  frequent 
attempts  to  aid  the  pedestal  fund,  but  its  grasp  was  not 
then  firm  enough  to  undertake  so  great  a  task  as  raising 
the  money.  In  1884  it  devoted  all  its  energy  to  the  elec- 
tion of  a  Democratic  President.  But  in  the  spring  of 
1885  no  obstacle  prevented  its  return  to  the  project,  and 
upon  the  15th  of  March  The  World  engaged  to  raise 
through  its  readers  the  $100,000  needed.  It  appealed 


LIBERTY  39 

as  a  "people's  paper"  to  the  people  of  the  United  States, 
reminding  them  that  "The  $250,000  that  the  making  of 
the  statue  cost  was  paid  in  by  masses  of  the  French 
people  —  by  the  working-men,  the  tradesmen,  the 
shop-girls,  the  artisans  —  by  all,  irrespective  of  class 
or  condition.  Let  us  not  wait  for  the  millionaires 
to  give  this  money/'  it  urged.  "It  is  not  a  gift 
from  the  millionaires  of  France  to  the  millionaires  of 
America." 

The  money  came  slowly  for  a  time;  considerably  less 
than  one  dollar  each  was  the  average  contribution.  But 
by  May  15th  enough  was  in  hand  so  that  work  was  re- 
sumed by  the  committee;  in  four  months  the  fund  was 
sufficient,  and  by  April  23,  1886,  the  pedestal  stood  com- 
plete. The  I  sere  sailed  from  France  June  18th  with  the 
statue,  cast  in  sections,  and  upon  her  arrival  in  New  York 
was  thus  welcomed  by  The  World: 

Surely  peace  has  wrought  no  nobler  victory  in  our  generation 
than  this.  And  if  to-day  the  pageant  of  reception  is  made 
imposing  by  the  war-vessels  of  two  governments  they  are 
this  time  only  giving  obedient  and  kindly  service  to  the  people 
who  have  learned  to  make  governments  and  have  outstripped 
them  in  fraternal  purpose.  And  this  purpose,  if  carried  out 
in  man's  intercourse  with  Liberty  and  Light,  as  it  has  been 
carried  out  in  this  emblematic  labor,  will  yet  make  war-vessels 
unnecessary. 

There  will  be  no  answering  salute  from  those  peaceful  bastions 
where  Liberty  is  to  plant  her  feet.  There  are  no  cannon  on 
the  parapets  that  the  people  have  reared.  But  the  mute 
and  mighty  ^Goddess  for  ages,  let  us  hope,  will  tell  her  eloquent 
mission  of  sentiment  there. 

The  inauguration  ceremonies,  after  the  statue  was 
set  up,  took  place  in  October,  1886,  attended  by  the 
President  and  other  American  high  officials,  and  by  a 
distinguished  delegation  from  France. 


i 


40  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

Upon  bronze  tablets  at  the  sides  of  the  central  arch 
of  the  pedestal  facing  the  sea  are  two  inscriptions: 

A  GIFT  FROM  THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  REPUBLIC  OF  FRANCE 
TO  THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

and 

THIS  PEDESTAL  WAS  BUILT  BY  VOLUNTARY  CONTRIBUTIONS 
FROM   THE   PEOPLE    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES    OF    AMERICA 

Another  reminder  of  the  raising  of  Liberty's  pedestal 
faces  the  reader  of  The  World  each  morning.  In  the  head- 
ing of  the  paper,  slightly  changed  from  that  first  adopted 
by  Mr.  Pulitzer  in  May,  1883,  a  vignette  sketch  of 
Liberty  stands  between  twin  globes  representing  the 
Western  and  Eastern  hemispheres. 

If  the  task  of  the  spring  was  the  setting  up  of  the 
Statue  of  Liberty,  autumn  brought  fresh  labors  to  broaden 
liberty  in  political  life. 

Political  interest  in  New  York  in  the  off-year  1885 
centered  in  the  contest  for  Governor.  David  B.  Hill,  of 
Elmira,  elected  in  1882  lieutenant-governor  for  a  three- 
year  term,  had  succeeded  Cleveland  upon  his  promotion 
to  the  Presidency,  and  he  was  nominated  by  the  Demo- 
crats for  the  full  term  on  September  24th.  In  view  of 
later  events  it  may  seem  odd  that  The  World  should  have 
hailed  his  nomination  as  that  of  a  man  "in  State  politics 
a  disciple  of  President  Cleveland.77  But  it  was  true,  as 
the  article  continued,  that  Hill  was  "trained  under  Mr. 
Cleveland  as  his^Lieutenant  for  two  years,  while  the  latter 
was  Governor/7  and  that  he  had  "carried  out  Mr.  Cleve- 
land's policy  while  acting  as  his  successor.77 

War  was  declared  upon  Hill  by  the  Mugwumps  on  the 
ground  that  he  was  not  a  civil-service  reformer;  they 
were  right  enough,  as  the  event  proved.  The  World 


LIBERTY  41 

begged  the  President  to  come  to  his  lieutenant's  assistance. 
It  reminded  him  that  he  had  written  "columns  in  letters 
to  George  William  Curtis,  Dorman  B.  Eaton  and  other 
Mugwumps,"  and  asked  him  to  send  a  "  letter  of  twenty 
positive  lines"  to  Mr.  Hill  expressing  sympathy  with  him 
in  the  abuse  he  was  receiving.  Such  a  letter  would  be 
worth  "  twenty  thousand  votes  to  Mr.  Hill  and  the  party 
that  elected  Mr.  Cleveland." 

Mr.  Cleveland  heightened  the  Mugwump  wrath  by 
writing  a  letter.  It  was  a  very  practical  letter.  It  was 
written  to  a  Democratic  friend  and  inclosed  the  President's 
check  for  one  thousand  dollars  to  aid  in  Hill's  election. 
This  was  neither  the  political  assessment  of  a  helpless 
office-holder  nor  a  secret  contribution  of  a  large  sum  by  a 
buyer  of  legislative  privilege;  and  it  was  of  great  in- 
direct service  to  Mr.  Hill.  He  was  perhaps  more  served 
by  the  Republicans  injecting  the  bloody-shirt  issue  into 
the  campaign,  a  piece  of  folly  less  excusable  since  the 
election  of  a  Democratic  President  had  shown  that  the 
nation  could  survive  a  change  of  parties. 

The  World  warmly  supported  Mr.  Hill.  It  also  took 
the  ground,  familiar  since  to  its  readers,  that  "in  local 
elections  party  lines  should  be  set  aside  where  Republican 
Judges  had  made  an  especially  honorable  record  and 
while  on  the  bench  had  shown  no  party  feeling."  And 
it  renewed  the  bitter  sarcasm  it  had  poured  out  upon  those 
who  resorted  to  sectionalism  as  an  argument  when  others 
failed  them  in  their  weakness. 

The  victory  was  complete  all  along  the  line.  Judge 
Sedgwick,  a  Republican  supported  by  The  World,  was 
elected  by  Democratic  votes.  Governor  Hill  was  chosen 
Governor  by  a  majority  of  11,134 — small,  but  many  times 
more  than  that  of  Mr.  Cleveland  in  New  York  the  pre- 
vious year.  The  election  was  a  "rebuke  of  two  things — 
the  bloody  shirt  and  the  bloodless  Mugwump." 

Pleased  as  The  World  was  at  its  success  in  an  off-year 


42  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

in  New  York,  its  main  interest  was  the  course  of  the 
Democratic  administration  then  beginning  in  Washing- 
ton and  the  promise  it  held  out  of  economic  reform.  In 
the  defense  of  the  new  administration  The  World  had 
occasion  with  a  frequency  which  is  now  surprising  to  meet 
the  charge  that  Democracy  meant  disunion.  "  Perhaps/ ' 
it  said  upon  one  of  these  occasions,  "if  Mr.  [Jefferson] 
Davis,  instead  of  leading  the  life  of  a  private  citizen,  had 
lent  his  name,  which  beyond  doubt  has  a  certain  influence, 
to  a  firm  of  Wall  Street  brokers,  had  made  himself  friendly 
with  the  Goulds,  Vanderbilts  and  Fields,  of  the  moneyed 
classes,  and  had  voted  the  Republican  ticket,  he  would 
have  been  courted  by  the  politicians  who  now  hold  him 
up  as  a  scarecrow  and  lash  themselves  into  fury  whenever 
his  name  is  mentioned."  A  month  later  we  find  it  re- 
buking a  man  of  such  ability  and  position  that  he  had  little 
excuse  for  playing  the  demagogue: 

Mr.  Evarts  asserts  that  the  success  of  the  Democracy  "  brings 
us  once  more  to  the  position  of  affairs  and  complexion  of 
sections  as  we  found  them  in  1860." 

Is  this  true?  Is  this  honest?  Is  it  worthy  of  a  lawyer  of 
reputation?  Or  is  it  a  blatant,  foolish  political  lie  such  as 
should  be  uttered  only  by  a  low,  dishonest  political  demagogue? 
We  leave  the  American  people  to  judge. 

A  life  unusually  prolonged  brought  Mr.  Evarts  to  a 
time  when  he  must  have  blushed  to  recall  such  utterances. 
In  1885  they  were  of  every-day  occurrence. 

Discussion  of  the  civil-service-reform  situation  was 
more  difficult;  in  fact,  it  was  the  chief  strategic  difficulty 
confronting  the  new  President. 

There  was  a  tendency  among  Mugwumps  to  go  back 
to  the  Republican  party,  now  that  it  had  received  its  re- 
buke; and  this  tendency  was  strengthened  by  the  impa- 
tience of  the  leaders  with  what  they  considered  Mr. 
Cleveland's  slowness  in  advancing  their  reform.  A 


LIBERTY  43 

practical  difficulty  beset  this  undertaking  in  the  horde 
of  hungry  Democrats,  famished  by  twenty-four  years  of 
banishment  from  Washington,  who  made  a  wild  lunge 
for  the  offices,  waylaid  the  President  day  and  night,  and 
would  not  be  denied.  If  some  of  these  men  were  not 
pacified  there  was  danger  of  political  reaction.  As  The 
World  said: 

President  Cleveland's  Administration  is  between  two  fires. 
Some  Democrats  blame  him  for  not  turning  Republicans  out 
of  office  more  rapidly  and  generally.  The  Independents  fret 
and  worry  because  he  happens  to  have  appointed  a  few  men 
to  office  who  are  hard  workers  in  the  party  and  labored  to  make 
his  election  possible. 

Between  these  contending  groups  The  World,  far  more 
interested  in  the  reform  of  the  tariff  and  the  checking  of 
corruption  than  in  other  issues,  was  for  a  time  not  with- 
out sympathy  for  the  partisan  Democratic  attitude.  It 
found  its  preference  consistent  with  belief  in  the  merit 
system.  "For  the  best  interests  of  good  government" 
it  insisted  that  "  before  the  bars  are  put  up  against  re- 
movals from  office  there  should  be  something  like  equality 
of  both  political  parties  in  the  public  service,"  especially 
as  "the  Republicans  who  are  in  were  put  there  through 
political  favor,  without  regard  to  their  qualifications  or 
merits,  while  a  great  portion  of  persons  now  appointed 
are  subjected  to  a  strict  competitive  Civil-Service  exami- 
nation." Twenty-eight  years  later  President  Wilson  was 
to  take  a  somewhat  similar  attitude  with  regard  to 
fourth-class  Postmasters  whom  a  late  order  of  President 
Taf  t  had  placed  in  the  classified  service,  and  to  order 
their  examination  as  a  test  of  fitness  to  retain  office. 

There  was  treachery  in  the  departments;  there  were 
employees  who  looked  to  party  and  not  to  country  as 
their  employer.  It  was  natural  enough,  considering  the 
reasons  for  their  employment  and  the  conditions  of  their 


44  THE   STORY   OF   A   PAGE 

service.  Horatio  Seymour  said  that  "no  prudent  busi- 
ness man  would  employ  a  bookkeeper  who  was  working 
against  his  interests  and  praying  that  he  should  fail." 
Mr.  Cleveland  had  something  like  this  in  mind  when  he 
declared  that  "offensive  partisans"  must  quit  public 
service.  Yet  so  great  was  the  dissatisfaction  among 
Democratic  party  workers  that  The  World  was  no  doubt 
right  in  saying  after  the  1885  election  that  "if  Mr. 
Cleveland  had  been  a  candidate  this  year  instead  of 
Governor  Hill  the  State  would  have  defeated  him  most 
overwhelmingly  as  a  rebuke  to  his  Mugwumpism." 

But  the  spectacle  of  the  chief  elected  servant  of  the 
people  compelled  to  devote  his  time  to  sifting  the  claims 
of  petty  politicians  for  patronage  was  not  to  be  patiently 
endured.  Casting  about  for  a  remedy,  The  World  pro- 
posed "a  straight  path  through  the  Constitution  to  Civil- 
Service  Reform."  Let  Congress,  was  its  idea,  by  law 
"cut  off  from  the  President  all  the  inferior  appointments, 
vesting  them  in  different  heads  of  departments."  So 
far  as  the  Independents  were  concerned  it  set  its  face 
against  their  recognition  upon  claims  of  patronage: 

The  Independents  frankly  avowed  their  position.  They 
were  Republicans,  but  not  unscrupulous  and  dishonest  Re- 
publicans. They  declared  for  the  representative  Democratic 
candidate,  not  because  they  intended  to  join  the  Democrats 
or  hoped  to  personally  profit  by  their  success,  but  because 
they  preferred  country  to  party.  They  chose  to  elect  an 
honest  partisan  opponent  rather  than  a  dishonest  partisan 
associate.  They  would  rather  see  the  Presidential  office 
Democratic  than  Disgraced. 

Under  these  circumstances  we  regard  it  as  unjust  to  the 
Independents  and  harmful  to  the  principles  they  uphold  to 
agitate  the  question  whether  they  are  to  receive  recognition 
or  reward  in  patronage  from  the  Democratic  Administration. 
Unjust  to  them,  because  it  implies  self-interest  as  the  motive 
of  their  action.  Harmful  to  the  principles  they  represent, 


LIBERTY  45 

because  it  imparts  to  what  we  believe  was  unselfish  patriotism 
the  appearance  of  prompt  political  payment. 

But  by  1887  The  World  became  convinced  that  the 
attempt  to  secure  at  once  proportional  representation  of 
the  parties  in  public  employment  was  impracticable,  and 
that  it  was  safer  to  leave  to  time  the  redress  of  remaining 
inequalities.  It  was  to  this  change  of  view  that  President 
Cleveland  referred  in  a  letter  written  August  17,  1887, 
to  Silas  W.  Burt  and  recently  unearthed  for  publication, 
in  which  he  asks:  "Did  you  see  how  quickly  The  World 
and  some  of  the  rest  of  the  Democratic  spoils  papers  .  .  . 
became  champions  of  civil-service  reform  under  the  in- 
spiration of  Mr.  [George  William]  Curtis's  speech?"  The 
World  had  never  been  a  spoils  paper;  it  had  not  criticized 
the  merit  system;  it  had  not  sought  to  delay  its  introduc- 
tion save  to  the  extent  indicated;  and  it  needed  no  speech 
of  Mr.  Curtis  or  any  one  else  to  shape  its  course. 

Except  for  this  temporary  divergence  of  opinion,  which 
did  not  touch  the  essential  merit  of  reform,  The  World1  s 
support  of  Mr.  Cleveland's  policies  in  his  first  term  was 
uniform.  When  the  first  calendar  year  closed  upon  a 
Democratic  administration  in  Washington  it  asked: 

Has  not  the  Government  grown  stronger  in  the  proof  that 
the  people  can  elect  and  inaugurate  a  President  of  their  own 
choice?  Has  not  the  declining  bitterness  of  sectionalism  drawn 
closer  those  fraternal  bonds  which  bind  State  to  State  and  make 
the  Union  more  perfect  than  ever?  Do  not  the  people  feel  safer 
now  against  the  encroachments  of  monopolies  than  they  did  a 
year  ago? 

The  "horizontal-reduction"  tariff  bill  of  William  R. 
Morrison,  of  Illinois,  introduced  in  1884,  was  the  chief 
proposal  for  reducing  the  surplus  before  the  country  the 
following  year.  The  new  Congress  assembled  in  De- 
cember, 1885;  the  Senate  was  still  Republican,  blocking 


46  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

action;  the  House  was  strongly  Democratic,  but  there  was 
discord  within  the  party. 

This  element  of  delay  and  danger  was  furnished  by  the 
Randall  assistant  Republican  group,  with  its  theory  that, 
to  stave  off  action  on  the  tariff,  internal-revenue  taxes 
should  be  swept  away.  The  World  had  no  patience  with 
this  plan.  The  country  was  collecting  nearly  one  hun- 
dred million  dollars  on  distilled  spirits  and  fermented 
liquors.  The  people  did  not  "desire  to  see  this  tax 
removed  and  the  tariff  increased  so  as  to  add  to  the  cost 
of  articles  of  necessary  consumption  in  the  poorest  man's 
family,"  especially  when  the  object  of  the  manoeuver  was 
to  "build  up  to  yet  grander  proportions  the  profits  of 
monopolies." 

To  dispose  temporarily  of  the  surplus  Congress  passed 
a  compromise  resolution  providing  that  the  idle  money 
in  the  Treasury,  above  all  liabilities  of  the  government, 
above  $100,000,000  reserve  for  the  redemption  of  the 
legal  tenders,  and  above  $20,000,000  to  be  held  as  an 
emergency  reserve,  should  be  used  to  pay  bonds.  This 
the  President  killed  in  August,  1886,  by  a  pocket  veto. 
The  relief  of  war  taxation  was  the  first  necessity. 

The  World  heartily  indorsed  the  veto.  It  was  prompt 
to  demand  of  Attorney-General  Garland,  of  Mr.  Cleve- 
land's otherwise  strong  Cabinet,  that  he  should  resign 
when  it  became  known  that  he  was  interested  in  the  stock 
of  the  Pan-Electric  Telephone  Company,  and  that  the 
contest  on  the  Bell  Telephone  patents  must  come  before 
the  Department  of  Justice  for  consideration.  It  sup- 
ported the  Reagan  interstate-commerce  bill,  a  precursor 
of  the  present  act.  The  vote  of  158  to  75,  which 
this  measure  received  in  the  House,  showed  that  "with 
a  change  of  administration  will  come  a  change  of  policy 
toward  the  abuses  and  despotism  of  large  corporations, 
and  that  in  future  the  interests  of  monopolies  will  not  be 
allowed  to  override  the  interests  of  the  people." 


LIBERTY  47 

A  running  fight  that  began  early  in  1885  and  lasted 
until  the  law's  delay  removed  the  danger  of  punishment 
for  most  of  the  thieves  was  waged  by  The  World  in  1886-87 
upon  the  " boodle"  aldermen  who  sold  Jake  Sharp,  a 
notorious  promoter,  a  franchise  for  the  Broadway  surface 
railway. 

How  the  rails  came  to  be  laid  in  this  important  street 
after  the  merchants  opposed  to  the  line  had  obtained  an 
injunction  may  be  read  in  The  World's  editorial  article 
"  Scoundrelism  and  Vandalism,"  in  which  on  May  24, 
1885,  it  scored  Justices  Brady  and  Daniels  of  the  Supreme 
Court  for  action  practically  removing  the  injunction. 
Sharp  was  waiting  for  the  decision,  and  within  a  few 
hours  "the  only  grand  thoroughfare  of  the  city,"  as  it  was 
oddly  described,  was  being  torn  up  by  pick  and  shovel. 
Merchants  on  Broadway  now  regard  the  street-railway 
as  a  friend.  There  is  no  need  to  soften  condemnation  of 
the  means  by  which  it  was  legalized  or  the  stock-jobbery 
which  has  been  loaded  upon  the  line. 

The  way  for  the  criminal  prosecution  of  the  boodle 
aldermen  was  cleared  in  a  manner  suggesting  opera 
bouffe.  Alderman  Jaehne,  one  of  the  boodle-takers,  com- 
bined the  occupation  of  a  "fence"  for  stolen  goods  with 
the  more  lucrative  one  of  selling  aldermanic  franchises. 
Caught  in  the  less  objectionable  of  these  pursuits  by  a 
courageous  woman  whose  silverware  had  taken  wing, 
Jaehne's  craven  soul  yielded  under  the  hammering  to 
which  he  was  subjected,  and  he  confessed,  as  The  World 
summarized  his  statement,  "that  since  he  has  been  in  the 
Board  of  Aldermen  every  vote  he  has  given  in  favor  of  a 
street-railroad  franchise  has  been  bought." 

In  April,  1886,  The  World  was  able  to  announce  as  a 
"Triumph  of  Public  Opinion"  the  indictment  of  "nearly 
an  entire  Board  of  Aldermen  on  charges  of  accepting 
bribes."  This  "unprecedented  event  proves  the  irresis- 
tible power  of  public  opinion.  Whatever  may  follow, 


48  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

the  fact  that  all  the  members  of  the  infamous  Board  of 
1884,  except  two  who  were  honest,  two  who  are  dead,  and 
three  who  have  saved  themselves  temporarily  by  abscond- 
ing, will  be  brought  to  the  bar  of  a  criminal  court  and 
tried  before  a  jury  cannot  fail  to  have  a  purifying  effect." 

Of  the  boodle  aldermen  some  went  to  jail,  some  took 
refuge  in  Montreal  with  Moloney,  the  clerk  of  the 
board.  One,  McQuade,  was  released  in  1888  on  a 
technicality  after  serving  twenty  months  in  prison. 
Punishment  was,  upon  the  whole,  a  disappointment,  but 
The  World's  urgency  helped  secure  a  law  providing  that 
franchises  should  be  sold  at  auction  for  compensation  to 
the  city  "instead  of,  as  in  the  past,  buying  up  a  sufficient 
number  of  Aldermanic  votes  to  pass  the  franchise  over  a 
possible  veto  and  cheating  the  city." 

The  World  in  these  years  exposed  the  stock-watering 
of  the  elevated  railroad  lines  to  prevent  their  payment  to 
the  city  of  profits  in  excess  of  10  per  cent.,  as  provided 
in  the  law  authorizing  construction.  The  watering  was 
done  through  the  formation  of  the  Manhattan  Company 
as  a  holding  corporation  with  fresh  capital  to  lease  the 
New  York  and  Metropolitan  companies.  Other  matters 
which  the  newspaper  urged  as  an  advocate  included  the 
Saturday  half -holiday,  which  it  gained  and  for  years  pro- 
tected against  efforts  at  repeal  by  bankers  and  others; 
the  opening  of  the  park  museums  on  Sunday,  then  op- 
posed by  influential  citizens ;  and  the  effort  to  secure  some 
relaxation  of  the  blue  laws  to  permit  of  playing  games  on 
Sunday.  In  an  effort  to  show  the  absurdity  of  a  pro- 
hibition which  is  only  now  beginning  to  yield  The  World 
engaged  a  baseball  park  at  Sunnyside,  New  Jersey,  and 
chartered  a  steamboat  to  take  boys'  ball  clubs  there, 
only  to  be  defeated  by  the  New  Jersey  blue  law. 

The  most  stirring  events  of  1886  were  its  labor  troubles. 
In  Chicago  hard  times  and  anarchistic  agitation  led  to 
the  tragedy  of  the  Haymarket,  in  which  seven  policemen 


LIBERTY  49 

were  killed  and  eighty-three  persons  injured  by  bombs 
thrown  during  an  open-air  meeting.  In  New  York  there 
were  bitterly  contested  street-car  strikes.  Impossible  for 
any  one  with  a  heart  not  made  of  stone  not  to  sympathize 
with  men  who  were  toiling  sixteen  hours  a  day  while  a 
bought  vote  in  the  Board  of  Aldermen  could  add  two 
million  dollars  to  the  value  of  the  Broadway  and  Seventh 
Avenue  Railroad  franchise;  the  contrast  was  too  disheart- 
ening. But  The  World1  s  sympathy  did  not  lead  it  to  con- 
done disorder.  It  warned  the  labor-unions  that  they 
would  act  wisely  if  they  should  instruct  members  that 
their  first  duty  was  to  obey  the  laws. 

Out  of  the  labor  agitation  of  the  year  grew  an  event 
that  will  be  remembered — the  nomination  of  Henry 
George,  author  of  Progress  and  Poverty,  for  Mayor  of 
New  York.  The  World  was  practically  alone  in  the  local 
journalistic  field  in  treating  Mr.  George's  candidacy  with 
the  respect  which  his  ability  and  honesty,  and  the  just 
grievances  of  many  who  followed  him,  demanded.  "If 
the  working-man's  party, "  it  said  on  August  29th,  "is  to 
take  a  separate  political  existence  and  to  name  its  own 
candidates  for  office,  as  the  Prohibition  party  has  done,  it 
could  not  make  a  better  selection  for  Mayor  than  Mr. 
George."  Discussing  the  candidacy  on  September  26th, 
it  said:  "Mr.  George's  theories  will  neither  make  him  a 
bad  officer  nor  a  good  one."  He  "would  be  an  experi- 
ment, and  this,  we  believe,  is  the  most  valid  argument 
that  can  be  brought  against  him.  His  philosophy,  so 
long  as  it  does  not  conflict  with  the  official  oath  to  execute 
the  laws,  is  immaterial." 

"What  the  George  Movement  Means"  is  treated  more 
at  length  on  October  7th: 

The  George  movement  is  a  protest — a  deep,  disgusted  protest, 
not  wholly  free  from  anger — against  the  evils,  abuses  and  cor- 
ruptions that  are  rooted  in  our  politics  and  bearing  fruit  in  our 


50  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

government.  These  evils  and  abuses  do  not  need  to  be  de- 
scribed. They  are  seen  and  felt  by  all  who  note  the  condition 
of  public  affairs  in  this  city. 

For  more  than  twenty-five  years  the  people  have  sought  to 
secure  honest  and  efficient  local  government,  a  decent  respect 
for  law,  and  a  proper  regard  for  popular  rights  through  the 
instrumentality  of  political  parties  and  of  so-called  " Citizens'" 
movements.  They  have  for  the  most  part  failed.  The  long 
record  of  Bossing  and  Stealing,  broken  only  by  occasional 
spasms  of  virtuous  indignation,  ends  for  the  present  with  a  city 
government  honeycombed  with  frauds  —  with  Aldermen  in 
prison,  fugitives  from  justice  or  awaiting  indictment;  with 
a  debt  of  near  $100,000,000  and  a  yearly  budget  of  $33,000,000; 
and  with  a  management  of  municipal  affairs  that  has  become 
proverbial  for  extravagance,  jobbery  and  inefficiency. 

While  The  World  considered  the  George  theory  of  land 
taxation  "visionary  and  harmful/7  it  refused  to  be  stam- 
peded into  panic.  Abram  S.  Hewitt  was  nominated  by  a 
combination  of  the  Democratic  "halls"  to  meet  the 
storm,  and  The  World  gave  him  its  support.  The  Re- 
publican nominee  for  Mayor  was  a  young  man  of  twenty- 
eight  years  beginning  to  be  well  known  in  the  city.  The 
World,  in  terms  rather  amusing,  considering  Mr.  Roose- 
velt's subsequent  course  upon  the  tariff,  discussed  "Still 
Another  Free-Trader": 

The  Republican  City  Convention  last  night  nominated  for 
Mayor  the  candidate  of  the  Committee  of  One  Hundred,  Mr. 
Theodore  Roosevelt.  The  nominee  is  a  young  man  of  wealth 
who  has  had  very  little  business  experience,  but  who  is  some- 
thing of  a  reformer,  a  very  good  lecturer  and  a  first-class  bear- 
hunter.  .  .  . 

The  most  distressing  thing  is  that,  upon  the  theory  of  the 
Republicans  that  every  man  who  favors  an  abatement  of  the 
surplus-producing  war  tariff  is  a  Free-Trader,  Mr.  Roosevelt 
will  not  be  able  to  command  the  support  of  the  organs  that 
are  clamoring  for  the  "American  I-dee"  in  our  local  politics. 


LIBERTY  51 

If  The  World  had  been  gifted  with  prophetic  vision  it 
might  have  added  that  a  greater  menace  than  Henry 
George  had  been  selected  by  the  Republicans,  to  turn 
upon  them  years  afterward. 

Mr.  George's  candidacy  threw  many  men  of  property 
into  hysteria.  Republican  votes  were  swung  to  Hewitt 
in  such  numbers  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  received  but  two- 
thirds  of  Elaine's  strength  in  1884,  and  little  more  than 
three-fourths  of  the  vote  cast  for  the  Republican  candidate 
for  the  Court  of  Appeals  on  the  same  day.  The  figures 
as  later  canvassed  were:  Hewitt,  90,552;  George,  68,110; 
Roosevelt,  60,435. 

It  has  been  persistently  held  that  Henry  George  was 
robbed  of  office;  that  with  a  fair  election  he  would  have 
been  the  Mayor,  not  Hewitt.  Though  the  disparity  of  the 
Hewitt  and  the  George  votes  as  counted  seems  to  forbid 
such  a  supposition,  the  Democratic  bosses  were  united  for 
Hewitt,  the  Republican  bosses  were  satisfied  to  see  him 
elected  and  only  desired  to  keep  their  machine  regular; 
and  the  possibilities  for  crooked  work,  in  the  absence  of  a 
secret  ballot  and  of  safeguards  at  the  counting,  were 
such  as  do  not  now  exist. 

More  helpful  at  the  time,  more  applicable  to  political 
conditions  for  the  future,  were  The  World's  comments 
upon  Mr.  George's  vote  the  day  after  election: 

The  deep-voiced  protest  conveyed  in  the  67,000  votes  for 
Henry  George  against  the  combined  power  of  both  political 
parties,  of  Wall  Street  and  the  business  interests,  and  of  the 
public  press  should  prove  a  warning  to  the  community  to  heed 
the  demands  of  labor  so  far  as  they  are  just  and  reasonable 
— and  that  is  much  further  than  the  majority  of  citizens  have 
thus  far  been  willing  to  admit.  ...  It  is  plutocracy  that  makes 
socialism.  To  remove  the  effect  abate  the  cause. 


DARKNESS 

1887-1888 

Mr.  Pulitzer's  Great  Misfortune — How  a  Blind  Man  Edited  a  Paper  for 
Twenty -five  Years  —  His  Methods  of  Work  —  Friendship  for  Roscoe 
Conkling — Presentation  of  the  Gladstone  Memorial — The  Pacific  Railroad 
Frauds  —  Off-year  Election  of  1887  and  Cleveland's  Tariff  Message  — 
Harrison's  Nomination  and  Election  —  The  Murchison  Letter  and  the 
Campaign — The  "Great  Question"  of  War  Taxation  Left  Unsettled. 

To  make  The  World  a  journal  of  public  opinion  its 
founder  had  four  years  of  comparative  health.  Thence- 
forth he  worked  under  difficulties  that  to  a  less  ardent 
soul  would  have  seemed  insuperable. 

Mr.  Pulitzer  had  always  toiled  at  high  pressure  for  long 
hours  with  few  intermissions  for  rest.  In  1887  nervous 
prostration  took  him  from  The  World  office,  and  he  was 
never  able  to  resume  desk -work.  He  was  but  forty 
years  old.  Success  in  his  chosen  field  was  won.  He  was 
still  in  the  full  tide  of  physical  strength,  tall,  slender, 
athletic,  a  fine  horseman,  a  strong  swimmer,  passionately 
fond  of  travel  and  of  cultured  society ;  and  he  was  physi- 
cally a  broken  man.  His  nervous  organization  had  failed 
him.  His  eyesight,  never  of  the  best,  he  was  losing 
altogether.  From  this  time  he  could  never  read,  though 
the  loss  of  sight  was  not  so  absolute  as  to  prevent  him 
from  vaguely  distinguishing  objects  or  telling  light  from 
darkness. 

Gradually  out  of  the  chaos  of  his  plans  and  the  bitter- 
ness of  his  despair  he  evolved  the  methods  that  enabled 
him,  wherever  he  might  be,  to  keep  his  hand  upon  the 


DARKNESS  53 

great  machine  he  had  set  in  motion.  In  the  article  upon 
"Mr.  Pulitzer's  Journalism/'  printed  two  days  after  his 
death,  a  hint  is  given  of  what  these  methods  were: 

His  chief  concern  centered  in  the  editorial  page  as  the  expres- 
sion of  the  paper's  conscience,  courage  and  convictions.  To 
that  he  devoted  infinite  care  and  attention.  Sick  or  well, 
it  was  never  wholly  absent  from  his  thoughts.  When  he  was 
well  he  had  it  read  to  him  every  day,  and  expressed  his  opinion 
about  every  editorial  article — the  style  in  which  it  was  written, 
the  manner  in  which  the  thought  was  expressed,  whether 
the  editorial  was  strong  or  weak,  whether  it  served  any  useful 
public  purpose,  whether  it  said  the  thing  that  a  great  news- 
paper ought  to  have  said. 

When  ill  health  made  it  impossible  for  him  to  have  the 
editorial  page  read  every  day  he  would  keep  the  files  for  weeks, 
and  then,  when  his  condition  permitted,  he  would  go  over  them 
with  painstaking  care,  always  from  the  point  of  view  of  a 
detached  critic,  seeking  only  to  determine  whether  the  page 
was  taking  the  fullest  advantage  of  its  opportunities  for  public 
service  and  whether  it  was  measuring  up  to  the  high  standard 
that  he  had  set  for  it. 

Nothing  was  ever  allowed  to  interfere  with  its  independence 
and  its  freedom  of  expression.  There  were  certain  questions 
about  which  he  became  convinced  that,  in  spite  of  all  his  efforts, 
he  was  possibly  prejudiced.  In  these  matters  he  exacted  a 
pledge  that  no  suggestions  or  instructions,  or  even  commands, 
from  him  would  ever  be  followed,  but  that  the  paper  would 
always  say  what  an  independent,  untrammeled  newspaper 
ought  to  say  in  performing  its  duties  to  the  people. 

Much  has  been  said  about  Mr.  Pulitzer's  marvelous  news 
sense.  There  was  nothing  weird  or  miraculous  about  it; 
it  was  born  of  an  insatiable  thirst  for  information  and  a  restless 
curiosity  about  everything  of  human  interest.  He  wanted  to 
know.  What?  When?  Where?  How?  He  took  it  for  granted 
that  hundreds  of  thousands  of  other  people  wanted  to  know. 

It  has  been  remarked  that  Mr.  Pulitzer's  blindness 
made  him  a  greater  man  by  concentrating  his  thought. 


54  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

Concentration,  at  any  rate,  was  the  word  that  best 
described  his  methods  of  working.  Presiding  at  the 
quarter-century  celebration  of  The  World  in  1908,  Ralph 
Pulitzer  said: 

I  have  in  my  mind's  eye  the  picture,  seen  many  and  many  a 
time,  of  a  man  in  the  throes  of  sightlessness  and  suffering, 
insisting  on  a  paragraph  or  phrase,  just  dictated,  being  read 
and  reread  to  him  over  and  over  again,  listening  with  painful 
attention  to  catch  and  correct  any  slightest  suspicion  of  mis- 
statement  in  a  fact,  any  slightest  shade  of  overemphasis  in  an 
adjective,  any  possibility  of  conveying  an  impression  that  was 
not  altogether  accurate  and  scrupulously  just. 

It  was  natural  that  a  man  forty  years  old,  stricken  not 
quite  blind,  and  suffering  mainly  from  nervous  troubles 
should  at  first  have  spent  his  energies  in  seeking  recovery 
for  normal  activities,  not  in  developing  ingenious  methods 
for  doing  his  life-work  under  handicap.  Yet  in  the  darkest 
hours  when  Mr.  Pulitzer  was  seeking  vainly  to  restore 
his  fading  sight  and  ruined  health  he  never  failed  to  feel 
the  pressure  of  public  questions. 

The  death  of  Roscoe  Conkling,  a  sequel  of  the  great 
blizzard  of  March  12,  1888,  was  a  personal  shock  to  Mr. 
Pulitzer  in  his  illness.  He  admired  Conkling  for  his 
ability  and  integrity,  and  employed  him  as  counsel.  In 
two  senatorial  elections  The  World  had  urged  Conkling's 
name  upon  the  Republicans.  When  Elbridge  G.  Lapham's 
term  was  about  to  expire  it  pointed  out  that  "Elaine's 
overthrow  and  the  destruction  of  his  forces,  which  could 
only  be  held  together  by  plunder,  make  Roscoe  Conkling 
more  a  Republican  than  ever,  for  he  becomes  a  necessity 
to  the  reconstruction  of  the  party  and  its  continued 
existence."  Because  Lapham's  successor  must  be  a 
Republican  The  World  advised  Democrats  in  the  Legisla- 
ture to  unite  with  a  few  Republicans  "to  elect  an  able  and 
honest  Republican."  Lapham's  successor  was  William  M. 


DARKNESS  55 

Evarts,  whose  selection  "  stamps  the  Republican  party  of 
New  York  again  with  Elaine's  seal.  The  hand  of  Elaine 
is  apparent  in  the  result.  .  .  .  Nevertheless,  the  defeat 
of  the  Golden  Calf,  [Levi  P.]  Morton,  is  a  great  ad- 
vantage." 

Again  in  1887  The  World  pressed  Conkling  upon  the 
attention  of  the  Stalwart  Republicans  and  the  Democratic 
minority.  But  the  Democrats  in  Albany  had  not  been 
educated  to  disregard  partisan  consistency  for  public 
advantage.  Nor  was  the  breach  between  Stalwarts  and 
Half-breeds  to  be  healed  by  the  advancement  of  either 
of  the  leaders  of  faction.  Conkling  never  forgave  Mr. 
Elaine,  the  man  who  in  a  speech  in  Congress  had  com- 
pared him  with  Henry  Winter  Davis  as  "  Hyperion  to 
a  satyr,  Thersites  to  Hercules,  mud  to  marble,  dunghill 
to  diamond,  a  singed  cat  to  a  Bengal  tiger,  a  whining 
puppy  to  a  roaring  lion" ;  who  had  spoken  of  "his  haughty 
disdain,  his  grandiloquent  swell,  his  majestic,  superemi- 
nent,  overpowering,  turkey  -  gobbler  strut."  Nor  was 
Elaine  more  ready  than  Conkling  to  forgive  and  forget, 
though  perhaps  more  inclined  to  a  formal  truce. 

The  World  had  not  long  left  doubt  in  the  minds  of  its 
readers  whether  it  would  assail  Democratic  less  vigor- 
ously than  Republican  misconduct.  The  antics  of  Tam- 
many in  the  1887  Legislature  gave  opportunity  to  show  its 
independence.  Its  members  cast  a  solid  vote  in  favor  of 
the  repeal  of  the  Civil  Service  Reform  Act,  and  opposed 
higher  license  fees  for  liquor-sellers.  "The  people  of  this 
State,"  said  The  World,  "do  not  want  the  Civil  Service  Act 
repealed.  They  do  want  to  see  diminish  the  number  of 
places  where  liquor  is  sold."  Opposed  to  prohibition  and 
to  oppressive  Sunday  laws  as  assaults  upon  personal 
liberty,  it  has  held  to  the  position  of  those  early  years  upon 
higher  license.  "There  are  too  many  dram-shops,"  was 
its  theory.  "The  license  law  is  disregarded  in  a  most 
demoralizing  manner.  Society  has  a  right  to  a  more 


56  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

adequate  reimbursement  for  the  expenses  of  crime  and 
pauperism  caused  by  the  traffic."  The  Saxton  license 
bill,  finally  passed  by  the  Legislature  under  its  urging,  was 
a  precursor  of  the  present  Raines  law.  It  was  vetoed 
by  Governor  Hill  on  the  ground,  which  did  not  satisfy 
The  World,  that  its  revenues  were  to  be  applied  to  local- 
ities where  they  did  not  originate. 

In  1886  The  World,  because  of  its  success  with  the 
Statue  of  Liberty  pedestal,  had  been  asked  to  raise  a  fund 
in  the  United  States  to  aid  Home  Rule  in  the  British 
parliamentary  campaign,  and  did  so.  In  1887  a  similar 
fund  was  provided  through  its  urgings  for  a  memorial  to 
Mr.  Gladstone  from  political  friends  in  America,  and  on 
July  9th,  at  Dollis  Hall,  his  suburban  residence  near 
London,  the  memorial  was  presented. 

Said  Mr.  Pulitzer  upon  that  occasion: 

Mr.  Gladstone,  10,689  people  of  the  first  city  of  America 
ask  the  first  citizen  of  England  to  accept  this  gift.  They  ask 
you  to  accept  it  as  an  offering  of  their  sincerest  sympathy. 
They  ask  you  to  accept  it  as  a  token  of  their  personal  admiration. 
They  ask  you  to  accept  it  as  a  tribute  to  your  great  public 
services  in  the  cause  of  civil  and  religious  freedom.  They 
ask  you  to  accept  it  for  your  determination  that  the  principles 
of  liberty  and  justice,  which  have  made  England  so  free  and 
great,  shall  no  longer  be  denied  to  Ireland.  They  ask  you  to 
accept  it  as  an  evidence  that  there  is  an  irrepressible  sympathy 
between  the  liberty-loving  masses  which  is  more  sincere  than 
that  of  rulers.  They  especially  ask  you  to  accept  it  because 
in  your  great  struggle  for  Home  Rule  and  humanity  for  Ireland 
you  represent  essentially  those  American  principles  of  repre- 
sentation, legislation,  and  political  equality  by  which  the 
greatness  of  their  own  country  and  their  own  well-being  were 
made  possible.  .  .  .  Americans  know  what  England  has  done 
for  liberty  and  civilization  to  all  mankind.  They  know  how 
your  people  have  sympathized  with  every  struggle  against 
tyranny  in  Europe — in  Greece  as  well  as  in  Italy,  in  Poland 
as  well  as  in  Hungary.  .  .  .  They  see  in  their  own  country 


DARKNESS  57 

forty -six  different  States  and  territorial  legislatures,  besides 
their  federal  Congress;  they  see  in  Germany  twenty-six  dif- 
ferent legislatures,  besides  the  imperial  parliament;  they  see 
in  Austria-Hungary  eighteen  state  legislatures,  besides  two 
general  parliaments;  they  see  separate  legislatures  in  Norway 
and  Sweden;  they  see  a  council-general  in  eighty-seven  depart- 
ments of  France;  they  see  even  in  conquered  Alsace-Lorraine 
a  legislative  provincial  committee;  they  see,  besides  the  Domin- 
ion Parliament,  seven  separate  and  distinct  legislatures  in 
Canada  and  eight  in  Australia. 

Why,  then,  refuse  a  parliament  to  Ireland?  Passions  and 
resentments  may  suggest  an  answer;  peace  and  patriotism 
cannot. 

Mr.  Gladstone  in  his  reply  said  that  some  of  his 
countrymen  expressed  jealousy  of  American  interference 
in  English  affairs.  If  he  was  to  consider  the  interference 
of  one  nation  by  the  expression  of  opinion  on  the  affairs 
of  another  unjustifiable  and  intolerable,  that  sentence 
would  fall  heavily  upon  England,  because  she  had  been 
interfering  with  everybody's  concern  throughout  the 
world,  instructing  countries  what  they  ought  to  do  and 
how  to  do  it. 

Triumph  attended  in  1887  The  World's  efforts  to  secure 
from  Congress  an  official  invebcigation  of  the  relations 
of  the  United  States  government  to  the  land-grant 
Pacific  railways.  For  two  years  it  had  been  urging  this 
step,  not  wholly  because  the  jountry  had  been  cheated  out 
of  an  immense  sum,  but  also  Decause  the  pressure  of  cor- 
rupt interests  put  a  stain  upon  Congress.  Finally  in 
March,  1887,  it  was  able  to  say  that  the  resolution  was  in 
the  hands  of  the  President  and  would  be  signed.  The 
necessity  for  inquiry  is  revealed  in  comments  upon  the 
disclosures  later  made: 

Mr.  Huntington  now  admits,  under  oath,  the  expenditure  of 
over  $6,000,000  by  his  company  between  1874  and  1885  (with 
one  year  missing)  for  "legal"  and  "miscellaneous  purposes." 
5 


58  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

He  says  that  Franchott,  his  first  agent  at  Washington,  was  paid 
$20,000  a  year  for  his  own  services  in  " explaining  things"  to 
public  servants,  and  may  have  been  given  as  high  as  $30,000 
or  $40,000  a  year,  for  which  no  vouchers  were  asked  or  given. — 
April  29,  1887. 

"I  had  no  idea  of  corrupting  members  of  Congress  or  having 
a  penny  expended  in  any  other  than  a  lawful  way,"  said  C.  P. 
Huntington  to  an  interviewer  yesterday.  .  .  .  Yet  on  March 
7,  1877,  he  wrote  to  "friend  Colton":  "I  stayed  in  Washington 
two  days  to  fix  up  Railroad  Committee  of  Senate."  On  October 
30th  of  the  same  year:  "I  think  the  Railroad  Committee  is 
right,  but  the  Committee  on  Territories  I  do  not  like.  A 
different  one  was  promised  me."  On  January  17,  1873:  "It 
costs  money  to  fix  things,  so  I  knew  that  his  [Scott's]  bill 
would  not  pass.  I  believe  that  with  $200,000  I  can  pass  our 
bill,  but  I  take  it  it  is  not  worth  that  much  to  us."  And 
these  are  some  of  the  words  from  which  Mr.  Huntington  says 
"none  but  an  evil  mind  could  extract  wrong." — August  23, 
1887. 

It  may  refresh  some  memories  to  recall  from  the  report 
of  this  commission  of  inquiry  that  the  government  loaned 
the  Pacific  railroads  $64,623,512,  which,  with  interest, 
grew  to  over  $125,000,000  in  1895;  that  the  companies 
undertook  to  issue  only  paid-up  stock;  that,  nevertheless, 
the  stock  actually  paid  for  was  less  than  $2,000,000,  while 
the  stock  sworn  to  was  more  than  $97,000,000;  that  the 
companies  issued  $172,000,000  of  fictitious  capital,  dis- 
sipated more  than  $107,000,000  which  should  have  been 
paid  to  the  government,  and  charged  traffic  $8,000,000  a 
year  more  than  would  have  been  necessary  to  pay  a  fair 
profit  upon  an  honest  construction  price. 

The  World  was  not  engaged  in  digging  up  Pacific  rail- 
way scandals  merely  for  the  sake  of  setting  unpleasant 
reading  before  the  people.  Out  of  the  Huntington  sen- 
sation it  fashioned  a  club  to  beat  Congress  into  passing 
the  interstate-commerce  law  of  1887,  the  first  great  act 


DARKNESS  59 

in  a  line  of  reform  transportation  statutes.  The  force  of  its 
presentation  of  the  case  for  regulation  may  be  shown  in  an 
example : 

A  QUESTION 

The  Interstate-Commerce  bill  is  opposed  by  Jay  Gould; 

By  C.  P.  Huntington; 

By  the  Western  cattle  rings; 

By  Philip  D.  Armour; 

By  stock  jobbers,  large  and  small; 

By  corporations  generally; 

By  Leland  Stanford,  the  millionaire  and   corporation 

Senator. 
It  is  favored  by 

The  Western  farmers; 

The  Eastern  merchants; 

The  boards  of  trade  and  transportation; 

Anti-monopolists  in  general; 

The  people. 

Ought  the  Interstate-Commerce  bill  to  become  a  law  or  to 
suffer  defeat? 

The  World's  support  of  Cleveland  was  varied  by  ad- 
monition, as  when,  in  June,  1887,  he  did  a  generous  thing 
at  a  wrong  time  by  ordering  the  return  of  Confederate 
battle-flags,  an  order  afterward  withdrawn.  This  was  a 
mistake,  The  World  bluntly  said: 

The  order  was  made  to  include  the  Union  as  well  as  Confed- 
erate flags;  but  the  Northern  regiments,  for  the  most  part, 
brought  their  flags  home  or  have  since  had  them  returned  from 
Washington.  So  that  the  real  significance  of  the  action  was  in 
the  return  to  Southern  States  of  flags  captured  in  a  war  for  the 
preservation  of  the  Union. 

What  better  could  be  done  with  them?  might  now  be 
asked.  But  that  question  did  not  sound  in  1887  as  to-day 
it  might.  The  World,  having  at  heart  the  greater  par- 
ticipation of  the  Southern  soldier  in  the  political  life  of 


60  THE    STORY    OF   A    PAGE 

the  nation,  held  that  the  flags  would  better  remain  "in 
the  keeping  of  a  government  that  now  represents  a 
restored  Union  of  loyal  States,  rather  than  be  held  as 
symbols  of  a  lost  cause  in  communities  that  have  no  lack 
of  mementos." 

But  the  great  controversy  of  1887  was  on  public  taxation. 

After  the  election  of  1886  the  Democrats  still  held  the 
House  by  a  narrow  majority  of  but  fifteen  votes,  while 
the  Republican  margin  in  the  Senate  was  reduced  to  two. 
This  situation  blocked  tariff  legislation  during  the  re- 
mainder of  Cleveland's  first  term.  The  Republicans, 
with  aid  from  Randall  Democrats,  passed  an  extrava- 
gant Dependent  Pension  bill  and  River  and  Harbor  bill 
chiefly  to  dispose  of  the  surplus  and  make  revenue  reduc- 
tion seem  less  necessary.  With  a  similar  purpose  Mr. 
Randall  renewed  the  proposal  to  remove  the  remaining 
taxes  on  liquors  and  tobacco.  The  World  supported 
Cleveland  in  vetoing  the  Pension  and  River  and  Harbor 
bills  while  the  surplus  continued  to  pile  up. 

The  off-year  elections  of  1887,  though  they  could 
neither  alter  the  complexion  of  Congress  nor  give  hope  of 
immediate  tariff  reform,  did  encourage  President  Cleve- 
land by  their  evidence  of  the  strength  of  Democratic 
sentiment  to  send  to  Congress  on  December  6th  the 
admirable  message  which,  The  World  said,  gave  the 
party  "what  it  has  long  lacked — an  issue  and  a  leader. 
The  issue  is  tax  reform.  The  leader  is  the  President." 
The  result  of  the  election  in  the  President's  own  state 
The  World  had  summarized  as  settling  three  things: 

President  Cleveland  will  be  renommated  by  his  party. 

Mr.  Elaine  will  not  be  renominated  by  the  Republicans. 

Mr.  George  will  not  control  the  election  next  year. 

New  York  is  the  pivotal  State.  Mr.  Cleveland's  friends 
have  had  a  complete  triumph.  They  are  entitled  to  the  fruits 
of  the  victory.  Grover  Cleveland  is  indeed  a  lucky  man;  and 
James  G.  Blaine  may  be  said  to  be  a  dead  cock  in  the  pit. 


DARKNESS  61 

With  the  issuance  of  the  tariff-reform  message  The  World 
swung  wide  into  the  current  of  the  great  issue.  Three 
days  after  the  message  appeared  it  thus  swept  aside  dis- 
cussion of  schedules  and  rates  with  the  question  "In  a 
Nutshell."  It  tells  us  all  we  need  know  of  that  almost 
forgotten  fight: 

Facts: 

1.  Surplus  taxation  for  the  current  fiscal  year,  $113,000,000. 

2.  The  Treasury  glutted  at  the  close  of  the  current  fiscal 
year  with  $140,000,000  taken  from  private  enterprise  and  stored 
in  public  vaults. 

3.  John  Sherman's  blundering  funding  of  the  public  debt 
forbids  bonds  to  be  called  or  paid,  except  with  his  own  premium 
to  the  bondholder,  until  1891,  when  $230,544,600  become  due 
and  payable  at  their  face;  and  1907,  when  $732,440,850  become 
due  and  payable  at  their  face. 

Proposals : 

1.  The  Democratic  policy:    Off  with  the  needless  taxes  on 
clothing,  fuel,  shelter,  food.    Let  alone  the  taxes  on  whisky, 
beer,  tobacco. 

2.  The  Republican  policy:    Off  with  the  taxes  on  whisky, 
beer,  tobacco,  so  as  to  keep  the  war  taxes  on  clothing,  fuel, 
shelter,  food. 

The  tariff  measure  which  Democracy  proposed  was 
known  as  the  Mills  bill,  from  Roger  Q.  Mills,  of  Texas, 
chairman  of  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee.  As  The 
World  summarized  it,  it  proposed  to  "cut  off,  in  round 
numbers,  $78,000,000  of  the  surplus  revenue.  Of  this 
amount  $54,000,000  is  taken  from  the  tariff  and  $24,000,- 
000  from  internal  taxes  on  tobacco.  It  adds  to  the  free 
list  flax,  hemp,  jute,  salt,  tin  plate,  wool,  and  a  few  other 
articles.  The  present  average  rate  of  the  tariff  on  dutiable 
goods  is  47.10  per  cent.  The  Mills  bill  would  leave  it  at 
40  per  cent.  The  present  average  rate  on  articles  affected 
by  the  bill  is  54.16  per  cent.  The  proposed  rate  would 
leave  it  on  these  articles  at  33.36  per  cent," 


62  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

A  long,  long  way  from  being  a  " free-trade  measure"  was 
the  one  thus  described.  Clay's  tariff  was  but  20  per  cent. 

Public  revolt  against  the  tariff  had  not  risen  to  the 
height  it  reached  in  1892,  after  the  passage  of  the 
McKinley  bill,  but  it  was  unmistakable.  Senator  Aldrich 
said  that  revenue  ought  to  be  cut  by  $100,000,000. 
Senator  Allison,  returning  from  a  trip  home  to  Iowa,  re- 
ported that  "the  party  which  fails  to  do  its  share  in 
reducing  the  tariff  taxes  will  lose  in  public  favor."  Yet 
so  wild  a  proposal  as  the  division  of  the  surplus  among 
the  states  instead  of  reducing  taxation  found  favor  with 
John  Sherman,  Ohio's  Presidential  candidate,  as  it  had 
earlier  found  favor  with  James  G.  Elaine,  the  beaten 
candidate  of  1884. 

The  issue  was  made.  The  selection  of  candidates 
remained.  Upon  the  Democratic  side  Mr.  Cleveland's 
candidacy  was  a  matter  of  course.  For  the  Republican 
nomination  there  was  rivalry.  Mr.  Elaine,  who  since 
1884  had  been  in  poor  health,  wrote  on  January  25th 
from  Florence,  Italy,  to  B.  F.  Jones,  steel  manufacturer 
in  Pittsburg  and  chairman  of  the  Republican  National 
Committee,  that  his  name  would  not  be  presented  to  the 
convention.  His  friends  continued  to  urge  him  with 
such  effect  that  on  May  22d  George  William  Curtis  said 
in  a  World  interview  that  he  was  "  probably  the  most 
popular  man  in  the  United  States."  No  parallel  to  the 
devotion  he  inspired  had  been  seen  in  American  politics 
since  "Harry  of  the  West." 

Yet  he  was  out  of  the  question.  "The  Republican 
nomination,"  The  World  said,  on  May  31st,  "will  go  to  a 
second-class,  not  to  a  first-class  man.  ...  It  will  be  a 
Western  candidate."  The  nomination  of  Benjamin  Har- 
rison it  thus  greeted: 

It  will  be  said  of  Mr.  Harrison  that  he  is  nominated  for  his 
name;  that  if  his  grandfather  had  not  been  President  of  the 


DARKNESS  63 

United  States,  and  his  great-grandfather  a  signer  of  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  he  would  not  have  been  the  candidate. 
But  this  is  idle  talk.  .  .  .  He  is  a  prominent  citizen  of  a 
doubtful  State,  and  he  had  the  support  of  its  delegates,  all 
but  unanimously.  He  has  a  good  soldier  record,  having  gone 
into  the  war  a  Second  Lieutenant  of  volunteers,  and  having 
come  out  of  it  a  brevet  Brigadier-General.  He  is  a  thoroughly 
equipped  lawyer,  and  he  has  experience  as  a  statesman.  .  .  . 
Moreover,  he  has  always  been  a  practical  civil-service  reformer 
and  an  extreme  protectionist. 

It  is  singular  how  little  the  argument  for  tariff  reduction 
has  changed  in  twenty  years.  How  The  World  fought 
for  lower  taxes  may  be  briefly  shown  by  citations  from 
its  editorial  columns  as  applicable  now  as  the  day  they 
were  penned: 

A  FEW  DEFINITIONS 

Taxation  for  surplus  is  robbery. 

A  tariff  for  bounties  is  robbery. 

A  tariff  is  a  tax. 

"Definition  is  argument." — August  27th. 

REPUBLICAN  PARADOXES 

That  " there  is  no  surplus,"  but  that  it  was  not  safe  to 
adjourn  Congress  until  a  bill  had  been  reported  in  the  Senate 
to  cut  down  the  taxes  $75,000,000.  ... 

That  America  is  the  greatest,  freest,  and  most  prosperous 
country  under  the  sun,  .  .  .  but  that  without  a  Chinese-wall 
tariff  America  will  be  at  the  mercy  of  a  little,  crowded  island 
three  thousand  miles  off,  which  is  dependent  upon  outsiders 
for  food. 

That  the  effect  of  the  tariff  is  to  lower  prices,  but  that 
without  the  higher  prices  which  the  tariff  enables  the  manu- 
facturer to  charge  he  could  not  pay  higher  wages  to  his  work- 
ing-men. 

That  prices  are  as  low  here  as  in  Europe,  but  that  we  should 
be  undersold  but  for  a  47-per-cent.  tariff. 

That  the  tariff  is  not  a  tax,  but  that  if  it  is  reduced  there 
will  be  no  money  for  pensions. 


64  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

That  the  tariff  is  a  tax,  but  that  "the  foreigner  pays  it." — 
October  26th. 

The  campaign  was  far  different  from  that  of  1884. 
The  Democrats,  entrenched  in  the  White  House  and  the 
departments,  but  blocked  by  a  divided  Congress  from 
accomplishing  needed  legislation,  had  the  appearance  of 
power  without  the  substance.  Conkling  was  dead. 
Blaine  spoke  for  Harrison,  in  whose  Cabinet  he  was  to 
be  Secretary  of  State.  Four  years  had  softened  the 
memory  of  Republican  corruption.  Republican  civil- 
service  reformers,  satisfied  with  Harrison's  attitude, 
had  little  excuse  for  leaving  their  party.  David  B.  Hill's 
Democratic  state  convention  in  New  York,  by  trying  to 
dodge  the  tariff  issue,  had  not  bettered  Cleveland's 
chances.  The  Republicans  did  not  this  time  neglect 
John  Y.  McKane,  whose  pocket  vote  had  alone  been 
enough  to  elect  Cleveland  in  1884.  Nor  was  Mr.  Cleve- 
land, his  luck  for  once  failing  him,  to  escape  his  Burchard. 

This  thankless  part  was  played  by  the  British  Minister 
in  Washington,  Sir  Lionel  Sackville- West,  to  whom  a  decoy 
letter  had  been  written  from  California  signed  "Murchi- 
son,"  affecting  to  ask  advice  how  former  British  subjects  who 
had  become  American  citizens  should  vote.  Falling  into 
the  trap,  the  minister  replied  in  favor  of  Mr.  Cleveland, 
and  the  publication  of  the  letter  threw  many  voters  into 
a  rage  recalling  that  of  four  years  before,  but  impelling 
them  now  in  the  contrary  direction.  Mr.  Cleveland  was 
obliged  to  ask  for  Sackville- West's  recall,  and  he  went 
from  the  country  a  disgusted  man. 

Of  what  use  was  it  for  The  World  to  oppose  common 
sense  to  jingoism?  Manfully  it  set  at  the  task.  Sack- 
ville-West  had  said  in  the  Murchison  letter  that  the 
Democratic  party  was  "  still  desirous  of  maintaining 
friendly  relations  with  Great  Britain."  "What  party 
isn't?"  The  World  asked.  "Is  the  Republican  party  in 


DARKNESS  65 

favor  of  war?  If  so,  it  is  at  least  prudent  in  withholding 
its  declaration  until  a  Democratic  Administration  can 
restore  the  Navy,  which  the  Republican  regime  permitted 
to  go  to  decay." 

It  was  good  defensive  campaigning,  but  a  poor  substi- 
stute  for  the  smashing  blows  that  had  laid  Elaine  low. 
Cleveland  was  beaten  in  New  York  by  thirteen  thousand 
votes  and  in  the  electoral  college  by  sixty-five;  yet  he  had 
a  popular  plurality  of  ninety-eight  thousand.  Eleven 
months  had  not  been  long  enough  to  break  the  protective- 
tariff  superstition.  But  the  President  at  least  "gave  to  his 
party  an  issue  worthy  of  such  a  contest.  He  lifted  the 
plane  of  national  politics  from  a  petty  strife  for  spoils 
to  a  noble  contest  for  principle.  He  buried  beyond  res- 
urrection the  dead  issues  of  the  past  and  brought  both 
parties  face  to  face  with  a  living  question  of  the  present." 

With  confidence  The  World  faced  the  future: 

The  war  taxes  will  be  reduced.  The  surplus  will  be  stopped. 
The  tariff  that  enriches  the  few  at  the  expense  of  the  many  will 
be  reformed.  President  Cleveland  and  his  party  can  afford  to 
wait  for  the  vindication  of  their  position  in  this  contest. 

Thousands  of  children  born  since  this  was  written  cast 
in  1912  their  first  votes  for  President,  and  the  "great 
question"  was  not  yet  "settled  right."  The  tax  that 
"enriches  the  few  at  the  expense  of  the  many"  was  still 
to  be  lightened  upon  the  shoulders  of  the  people. 


VI 

"THE  SHOPPING  WOMAN" 

1889-1890 

Blaine  a  Great  Figure  in  the  Harrison  Administration — A  "Forward" 
Policy  in  Samoa  and  Hawaii — The  Mafia  Murders  in  New  Orleans — 
Mr.  Pulitzer's  Wiesbaden  Despatch — Tammany  Returns  to  Power  in 
New  York — A  Century  of  Protection  Closing  in  Gloom — McKinley  Bill 
Stirs  Republicans  to  Revolt— The  Debacle  of  1890— The  Silver  Question 
Begins  to  Trouble  Democracy. 

AFTER  the  return  of  the  Republican  party  to  power  in 
1889  the  chief  political  figure  in  the  United  States  was 
James  G.  Blaine. 

Beaten  candidate  for  the  Presidency,  invalid  and  dis- 
heartened, a  fatalist  in  his  belief  that  the  stars  in  their 
courses  fought  against  his  supreme  ambition  as  they  had 
fought  against  Henry  Clay's,  Blaine  rose  by  sheer  intel- 
lect to  greater  heights  of  political  power  and  popular  favor 
than  he  had  yet  scaled. 

Leaving  the  White  House,  Grover  Cleveland  entered 
upon  the  practice  of  the  law  in  New  York.  Mr.  Blaine, 
by  the  understanding  that  secured  for  Harrison  his  aid 
in  the  campaign,  became  Secretary  of  State. 

Upon  the  announcement  of  this  honor  for  its  great 
antagonist  The  World  commented  that  it  was  "  perhaps 
inevitable,"  but  that  " unless  travel  and  reflection  have 
modified  Mr.  Blaine's  ideas  of  a  foreign  policy,  and  ex- 
perience and  disappointment  have  chastened  his  spirit, 
President  Harrison  will  have  reason  to  regret  and  the 
country  to  deplore  this  selection."  There  followed  one 


"THE    SHOPPING    WOMAN"          67 

of  the  most  stormy  periods  in  the  conduct  of  its  foreign 
affairs  which  the  country  had  known.  But  Elaine  won 
praise  from  his  severest  critics  by  his  clear  view  of  do- 
mestic issues  when  most  of  the  leaders  of  his  party  went 
astray. 

The  long-drawn-out  Samoan  troubles,  with  which  "the 
Monroe  doctrine  has  no  more  to  do  than  with  Cyprus/7 
first  brought  The  World  into  conflict  with  the  Elaine 
foreign  policies,  not  far  different  from  those  of  present-day 
Imperialists.  Our  participation  in  the  Samoan  govern- 
ment would  now  be  well  forgotten,  along  with  the  crisis 
that  led  to  it,  if  that  stirring  story  of  tribal  war  and  the 
plots  and  counterplots  of  consuls  and  beach-combers 
in  an  island  earthly  paradise  had  not  been  illumined  by 
the  genius  of  Robert  Louis  Stevenson. 

The  World  opposed  "the  absurdity  and  wrong  of 
American  participation  in  any  such  business."  "The 
sole  question,"  it  said,  when  the  Samoan  treaty  was  an- 
nounced on  January  20,  1890,  "is  whether  or  not  the 
United  States  is  prepared  to  enter  into  a  partnership 
with  Great  Britain  and  Germany  in  the  business  of 
seizing  and  governing  the  Pacific  islands  through  the 
agency  of  a  titular  sovereign.  And  every  tradition  and 
principle  of  the  Government  is  against  this  preposterous 
and  entangling  alliance." 

Another  forerunner  of  Pacific  imperialism  came  when 
in  December,  1889,  President  Harrison  suggested  that 
Congress  should  invite  Hawaii  to  send  delegates  to 
Secretary  Elaine's  Pan- American  conference.  "May  it 
be,"  asked  The  Worldy  "that  Hawaii  is  the  country  which 
Mr.  Elaine  has  found  on  the  bargain-counter  in  his  shop- 
ping-tour for  territory?"  Its  suspicion  that  the  adminis- 
tration contemplated  the  annexation  of  the  Sandwich 
Islands  proved  correct. 

Another  issue  in  which  The  World  criticized  Mr.  Elaine 
at  first,  though  it  later  softened  its  asperity,  was  the  fur- 


68  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

seal  controversy  with  Great  Britain.  Elaine  appeared  to 
lay  claim  to  a  mare  clausum  bringing  under  exclusive 
American  control  the  whole  Pribylov  archipelago.  Later 
he  proved  willing  to  arbitrate  the  question.  The  World 
heartily  supported  all  movements  that  furthered  arbitra- 
tion. Its  comment  upon  the  final  treaty  to  settle  the 
sealing  dispute,  November  12,  1891,  was  a  promise  of 
greater  services  to  peace: 

Arbitration  is  civilization's  substitute  for  the  brutality  of  war. 

Arguments  cost  less  than  ammunition.  Reasoning  comes 
cheaper  than  throat-cutting. 

Justice  is  all  that  any  civilized  nation  really  wants  in  any 
dispute,  and  justice  is  much  more  likely  to  be  the  outcome  of 
arbitration  than  of  armed  conflict. 

In  agreeing  to  submit  the  Behring  Sea  question  to  arbitration 
the  governments  of  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  have 
made  their  bow  to  the  enlightened  sentiment  of  the  people  of 
both  countries. 

This  is  civilization.     This  is  progress. 

When  in  March,  1891,  the  people  of  New  Orleans, 
exasperated  by  a  number  of  Mafia  murders,  lynched 
several  Italian  subjects  Mr.  Blaine  did  not  delay  his 
acknowledgment  of  the  responsibility  of  the  United 
States  to  the  government  and  the  families  of  the  dead 
men.  Premier  Rudini  in  Rome  used  the  outbreak  for 
political  effect,  and  when  Blaine  explained  what  Rudini 
well  knew,  that  our  federal  government  could  not  compel 
a  Louisiana  jury  to  convict  the  slayers  of  the  Italians, 
Rudini  sought  to  coax  European  statesmen  to  join  in  a 
declaration  that  the  United  States  ought  to  manage  its 
affairs  better.  The  World  found  in  Blaine's  skilful  final 
reply  to  Rudini  proof  that  "the  ' diplomatic  incident' 
had  its  origin  mainly  in  the  necessities  of  Italian  home 
politics."  Rudini's  ministry  fell  only  three  weeks  after 
the  payment  of  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  for  the 
families  of  the  slain  Italians. 


"THE    SHOPPING    WOMAN"         69 

Again  in  the  recognition  of  the  republic  of  Brazil  was 
Elaine  in  his  element;  here  The  World  was  his  hearty 
sympathizer  in  congratulating  the  continent  that  "no 
king  mocks  manhood  with  the  flummery  of  a  court" 
within  its  confines. 

But  Mr.  Blaine's  wisdom  in  domestic  affairs  far  out- 
shone his  brilliant  provocative  foreign  adventures.  He 
was  against  the  policy  of  his  party  in  urging  the  Force 
bill.  He  was  against  its  folly  in  the  McKinley  tariff. 
Out  of  the  wreck  of  Republican  hopes  in  1890  he  alone 
emerged  with  prestige  enhanced. 

The  Federal  Elections  or  Force  bill  was  an  attempt 
of  the  Republican  junta  to  put,  in  the  words  of  Senator 
Frye,  of  Maine,  "a  bayonet  behind  every  ballot."  It  was 
an  attempt  to  restore  in  the  awakening  South  the  condi- 
tions which  had  made  carpet-baggism  almost  a  greater 
curse  than  the  war;  to  turn  over  its  government  to 
ignorance,  spoliation,  waste,  and  greed.  Designing  men 
in  the  North  were  not  above  cynically  using  the  negro 
problem  as  a  means  of  perpetuating  the  power  to  tax  the 
people  through  the  tariff;  but  there  was  unquestionably 
a  large  body  of  honest  men  who  felt  that  the  newly 
enfranchised  slave  needed  the  protection  of  the  ballot, 
and  his  ballot  the  protection  of  the  federal  government. 
The  World  reminded  Republicans  how  in  1884  their  Na- 
tional Committee  had  issued  from  Nashville  an  "Address 
to  the  People  of  the  South,"  and  how  they  had  appealed 
"with  earnest  good  faith  and  in  the  spirit  of  American 
fraternity  to  the  intelligence,  enterprise,  honorable  am- 
bitions and  American  instincts  and  aspirations  of  the 
Southern  people."  Republican  " earnest  good  faith" 
was  now  shown  in  a  measure  to  put  Southern  elections  for 
representatives  under  control  of  federal  agents,  creating 
a  power  such  as  "should  not  be  bestowed  upon  any 
administration  or  any  party." 

Mr.  Blaine  had  been  as  ready  as  his  party  associates 


70  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

to  flaunt  the  "  bloody  shirt "  in  previous  years.  His 
common  sense  now  rejected  the  Force  bill,  and  his  hostility 
and  the  opposition  or  luke-warm  approval  of  his  followers 
so  delayed  its  passage  that  repeal  by  a  Democratic  Con- 
gress followed  before  much  harm  was  done. 

While  these  stirring  events  were  going  forward  in 
national  politics  The  World,  now  firmly  established, 
planned  for  its  future  home  a  noble  building.  The  be- 
ginning of  this  structure,  at  first  but  half  its  present  size, 
drew  from  Mr.  Pulitzer,  then  upon  a  sickbed  in  Wies- 
baden, this  message  of  aspiration,  read  at  the  laying  of  the 
corner-stone,  October  10,  1889: 

God  grant  that  this  structure  be  the  enduring  home  of  a 
newspaper  forever  unsatisfied  with  merely  printing  news — 
forever  fighting  every  form  of  wrong — forever  independent — 
forever  advancing  in  enlightenment  and  progress — forever 
wedded  to  truly  democratic  ideas — forever  aspiring  to  be  a 
moral  force — forever  rising  to  a  higher  plane  of  perfection  as 
a  public  institution. 

God  grant  that  The  World  may  forever  strive  toward  the 
highest  ideals — be  both  a  daily  schoolhouse  and  a  daily  forum, 
both  a  daily  teacher  and  a  daily  tribune,  an  instrument  of 
justice,  a  terror  to  crime,  an  aid  to  education,  an  exponent  of 
true  Americanism. 

Let  it  ever  be  remembered  that  this  edifice  owes  its  existence 
to  the  public;  that  its  architect  is  popular  favor;  that  its  corner- 
stone is  liberty  and  justice;  that  its  every  stone  comes  from  the 
people  and  represents  public  approval  for  public  services 
rendered. 

God  forbid  that  the  vast  army  following  the  standard  of 
The  World  should  in  this  or  in  future  generations  ever  find  it 
faithless  to  those  ideas  and  moral  principles  to  which  alone  it 
owes  its  life,  and  without  which  I  would  rather  have  it  perish. 

In  the  spirit  of  this  message  The  World  in  these  years 
interested  itself  in  many  matters  but  remotely  connected 
with  politics.  It  led  the  movement  for  the  wider  in- 


"THE    SHOPPING    WOMAN"          71 

struction  of  the  people  in  evening  courses  which  has  re- 
sulted in  the  great  free-lecture  system.  It  urged  the 
appointment  of  women  upon  school  boards  and  as  police 
matrons.  It  continued  to  advocate  a  high-license  bill. 
It  pushed  ballot  reform  to  success  against  obstacles  raised 
by  the  bosses  of  both  parties.  In  this  work  great  aid  was 
rendered  by  the  Knights  of  Labor  and  similar  organiza- 
tions. Perhaps  some  day  a  monograph  will  be  written 
upon  the  public  services  of  American  labor-unions  in 
urging  political  reforms. 

A  great  injustice  which  The  World  denounced  was  the 
persistent  refusal  of  the  New  York  Republicans  to  call  a 
constitutional  convention  and  their  neglect  to  take  a 
census  of  the  state  as  by  law  directed.  By  these  means 
they  continued  to  carry  the  state  Senate  and  to  hold  or 
tie  the  Legislature,  even  with  a  Democratic  Governor  and 
a  heavy  Democratic  popular  plurality. 

The  World  continued  its  running  fight  to  compel  the 
opening  of  the  Metropolitan  and  other  city  museums  on 
Sundays.  In  a  campaign  to  bring  the  Columbian  Expo- 
sition to  New  York  instead  of  Chicago  it  was  beaten,  in 
part  because  of  Senator  Platt's  unwillingness  that  local 
advantage  should  come  to  Tammany  Hall,  in  part  be- 
cause New  York  business  men  were  not  overanxious  to 
provide  money. 

The  influence  of  Platt  was  manifested  to  the  city's 
disadvantage  in  many  ways.  It  long  blocked  the  consoli- 
dation of  Greater  New  York.  It  delayed  rapid  transit; 
finally,  in  1891,  the  first  Rapid  Transit  Commission  was 
constituted  by  a  deal  that  kept  the  appointment  of  the 
commissioners  out  of  the  hands  of  city  authorities. 
Nor  would  it  have  been  possible  to  make  such  use  of  the 
fear  of  Tammany  had  it  not  been  a  name  repugnant  to  the 
country  as  a  synonym  of  misgovernment. 

That  Tammany  had  again  secured  a  firm  foothold  was 
partly  The  World's  fault.  Mr.  Hewitt,  elected  in  1886, 


72  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

though  a  man  of  ability  and  integrity,  had  failed  as  Mayor, 
as  perhaps  any  man  was  bound  to  fail  with  such  a  mingled 
crew  of  tax-eaters  behind  him.  Hence  in  1888  The 
World  opposed  his  re-election.  Fortune  provided  Tam- 
many in  Hugh  J.  Grant  with  a  candidate  who  had  easily 
won  a  reputation.  He  had  simply  been  one  of  the  two 
men  in  the  boodle  Board  of  Aldermen  who  were  demon- 
strably  honest.  The  World  supported  him  for  Mayor 
and  opposed  the  Tammany  candidate  for  district  at- 
torney, John  R.  Fellows,  with  the  justified  presentiment 
that  he  would  waste  little  energy  in  pursuing  political 
thieves.  Grant  and  Fellows  were  elected. 

As  the  Congressional  elections  of  1890  drew  near  it 
became  apparent  that  the  administration  party  had  com- 
mitted its  worst  blunder  since  reconstruction  in  the 
passage  of  the  McKinley  tariff  bill. 

The  country  had  been  warned  that  some  such  measure 
might  follow  Republican  success.  The  Republican  plat- 
form of  1888  had  upheld  high  protection  even  to  declaring 
that  the  party  would  make  such  revisions  as  would 
"tend  to  check  imports"  and  thus  reduce  income,  and 
would  repeal  all  internal-revenue  taxes,  including  those 
on  whisky  and  tobacco,  rather  than  "surrender  any  part 
of  our  protective  system. " 

The  McKinley  bill  did  not  proceed  to  this  extreme. 
But  it  did  remove  the  tariff  on  sugar  and  substitute  a 
bounty  of  two  cents  a  pound.  By  this  measure  the 
Republicans  demonstrated  that  the  tariff  is  a  tax,  paid 
by  the  consumer,  and  turned  the  surplus  into  a  deficit, 
with  some  aid  from  extravagant  expenditures  in  the 
Pension  Office  and  elsewhere. 

To  soften  public  anger  at  the  McKinley  bill,  which  he 
denounced  as  failing  to  open  a  market  abroad  for  one 
bushel  of  American  wheat  or  one  pound  of  American 
pork,  Mr.  Blaine  sought  to  inject  into  the  measure  during 
discussion  provisions  for  reciprocity  treaties  with  nations 


"THE    SHOPPING    WOMAN'5          73 

willing  to  frame  preferential  tariffs.  President  Harrison 
was  less  ardent  in  admiration  of  a  bill  which  was  to 
provide  him  with  a  rival  and  a  successor  than  were  the 
high-tariff  men,  intent  upon  the  privileges  they  had  paid 
for  with  campaign  contributions.  He  became  convinced 
that  Elaine  was  right  and  added  his  persuasions.  In  the 
end  the  reciprocity  provisions  were  accepted. 

Elaine  reciprocity  never  lowered  the  cost  of  living  or 
forced  a  market  abroad  for  any  considerable  American 
product.  In  accepting  it  the  " stand-patters"  reasoned 
that  it  would  be  easier  to  negotiate  reciprocal  treaties 
than  to  secure  their  ratification.  Though  some  treaties 
of  minor  consequence  were  concluded  under  the  McKinley 
bill,  no  important  benefit  was  derived.  At  a  later  period 
a  familiar  comedy  was  presented  by  the  Hon.  John  A. 
Kasson  negotiating  reciprocity  treaties  under  the  Dingley 
Act,  and  the  Senate  uniformly  refusing  to  sanction  them. 

A  "centennial  of  protection"  was  closing  as  the  McKin- 
ley bill  was  drafted.  The  tariff  indorsed  by  Washington 
had  averaged  eight  per  cent,  upon  a  limited  range  of 
articles.  The  World  said: 

At  the  end  of  a  hundred  years  the  revenue  produced  by  the 
tariff  is  $100,000,000  in  excess  of  the  needs  of  the  Government. 
And  the  coddled  infants  of  that  early  day,  grown  into  stalwart 
and  hoary  monopolies,  are  exacting  a  tariff  of  47  per  cent.,  or 
almost  six  times  as  much  as  was  required  to  "protect"  them 
hundred  years  ago. 

More  inauspicious  occasion  for  increasing  protection 
could  not  have  been  selected.  A  world-wide  financial 
depression  was  approaching.  The  failure  of  Baring 
Brothers  at  the  end  of  1890,  with  liabilities  of  one  hundred 
and  fifteen  million  dollars,  in  part  assumed  by  the  Bank 
of  England  and  other  institutions  to  avert  a  crash,  was 
its  beginning,  though  it  did  not  reach  full  development 

until  1893.    At  such  a  time  a  higher  tariff  could  not  be 
6 


74  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

followed  by  the  heightened  prosperity  which  alone  could 
make  the  public  tolerant  of  its  exactions. 

Nevertheless,  the  Republicans  "  practically  decreed 
that  their  proposed  tariff  bill  shall  not  be  discussed,  but 
shall  be  passed  with  only  a  show  of  debate.  Their  judg- 
ment in  this  matter  is  perfectly  sound.  The  McKinley 
bill  will  not  bear  looking  in  the  face.  It  is  a  measure  de- 
signed to  embarrass  and  restrain  trade;  to  make  favored 
individuals  rich  at  the  expense  of  the  mass  of  the  people. " 
Both  before  and  after  the  passage  of  the  bill  on  October 
1,  1890,  The  World  continued  to  drive  home  the  lesson: 

Mr.  McKinley  and  his  fellow-partisans  have  accomplished 
what  Mr.  Mills  and  Speaker  Carlisle  failed  to  do;  they  have 
completely  united  the  Democratic  party  in  favor  of  tax  reduc- 
tion through  tariff  reform. 

Only  a  few  days  ago  a  Democratic  successor  to  Samuel  J. 
T.  Randall  was  elected  upon  a  platform  favoring  "free  raw 
materials"  and  a  reduction  in  duties.  Mr.  Vaux  holds  that 
"a  tariff  is  a  tax,"  and  declares  that  "the  favored  class  of 
monopolists  to-day  does  not  amount  to  one  thousand  individuals 
who  are  the  immediate  beneficiaries  of  the  tax  for  protection, 
while  the  fifty  million  consumers  suffer  the  burden  of  paying 
the  tax."— June,  6,  1890. 

Mr.  McKinley,  in  eulogizing  his  tariff  law,  said:  "We  have 
looked  after  our  own.  That  is  the  sum  of  our  offense."  Whom 
did  Mr.  McKinley  mean  by  "our  own"?  Not  the  wage- 
earner,  for  since  the  passage  of  the  act  that  bears  his  name 
wages^have  gone  down.  Not  the  consumer,  for  the  cost  of  much 
that  he  consumes  has  gone  up. — June  19,  1891. 

Mr.  Niedringhaus,  who  has  made  some  tin-plate  for  cam- 
paign emblems,  has  declined  to  pay  the  wages  asked  by  the 
Amalgamated  Metal  Workers,  and  meets  their  strike  with  a 
request  to  the  Government  to  allow  him  to  import  Welshmen 
to  man  his  works. — August  4,  1891. 

While  The  World  thus  lashed  the  McKinley  tariff,  with 
evidence  of  popular  appreciation,  it  neglected  no  issue  that 


'THE    SHOPPING    WOMAN'  75* 

could  aid  the  general  result.  It  assailed  the  "  Czarism  " 
of  Speaker  Thomas  B.  Reed,  of  Maine,  whose  changes  in 
the  rules  of  the  House  did  much  to  hasten  legislative 
action,  and  sometimes  the  play  of  the  brute  force  of  a 
majority.  It  denounced  the  corruption  employed  by  the 
Republicans.  It  repeated  again  and  again  the  words  of 
William  W.  Dudley  in  1888: 

Divide  the  ^floaters  into  blocks  of  five,  and  put  a  trusted  man 
with  necessary  funds  in  charge  of  those  five,  and  make  him  respon- 
sible that  none  gets  away  and  that  all  vote  our  ticket. 

When  the  votes  of  1890  were  counted  The  World  was 
able  to  rejoice  that  "The  people  have  fittingly  rebuked 
the  partnership  with  monopoly  and  plutocracy  into 
which  the  Republican  party  has  forced  the  Government." 
The  House  was  again  Democratic.  New  York  State  had 
gone  Democratic  for  the  eighth  successive  time.  McKin- 
ley  was  beaten  in  Ohio.  Oregon  had  elected,  in  June, 
a  Democratic  governor.  Massachusetts  chose  as  gov- 
ernor that  promising  young  Democrat,  William  E.  Rus- 
sell, but  for  whose  untimely  death  the  course  of  American 
politics  might  have  run  differently.  Rhode  Island,  New 
Jersey,  Connecticut,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Michigan,  Ne- 
braska, Pennsylvania,  and  Wisconsin  were  Democratic 
upon  state  tickets;  Iowa,  Ohio,  Kansas,  Minnesota,  and 
New  Hampshire  were  close.  Upon  popular  vote  for 
Representatives  the  Democrats  had  a  plurality  of  eight 
hundred  thousand. 

For  such  an  amazing  overturn  there  was  more  than 
one  reason.  The  policy  of  "spending  the  surplus,"  in 
effect  announced  in  President  Harrison's  message,  and 
the  corruption  of  the  "fat-frying"  agents  of  protected 
interests  had  much  to  do  with  the  result.  But  the  chief 
cause  of  the  revolt  was  the  McKinley  Act. 

In  explaining  his  party's  crushing  defeat  after  the  elec- 
tion Speaker  Reed  said  "The  Shopping  Woman  did  it." 


76  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

In  the  following  year  there  was  no  marked  receding  of  the 
wave  of  indignation.  The  World  in  July,  1891,  stated  the 
issues  of  the  state  campaigns  to  be  "the  sixty-per-cent. 
monopoly  tariff,  the  extravagance  of  the  billion-dollar 
Congress,  and  the  conspiracy  against  home  rule  and  free 
elections  embodied  in  the  Force  and  Fraud  bill."  The 
country  again  spoke  with  emphasis.  There  were  no 
federal  elections,  and  in  many  states  no  candidacies  of 
general  interest,  but  Iowa  remained  Democratic  and 
Massachusetts  re-elected  Russell;  while  in  New  York 
the  re-election  of  Governor  Hill  was  of  national  im- 
portance. For  the  first  time  he  had  the  Legislature  with 
him.  In  spite  of  the  maintenance  of  rotten  boroughs  by 
denial  of  reapportionment  the  state  Senate  was  Demo- 
cratic. To  this  result,  with  a  majority  for  Hill  of  forty- 
eight  thousand,  an  amusing  incident  had  contributed. 

J.  Sloat  Fassett,  Hill's  opponent  for  Governor,  was 
speaking  in  Germania  Hall,  New  York  City,  on  the  night 
of  October  20th.  The  room  was  intensely  hot.  To 
quote  from  The  World: 

"I  wish  I  could  take  off  my  coat,"  said  Mr.  Fassett. 

"Take  it  off!  Take  it  off!"  shouted  the  audience,  and  Mr. 
Fassett  did  take  it  off.  Chairman  Eidmann,  fearing  that  Mr. 
Fassett  might  be  dry,  offered  him  a  glass  of  water. 

"None  of  that  for  me,"  said  Fassett.  This  caught  the  audi- 
ence again  in  the  right  spot. 

The  incident  cost  Fassett  many  votes,  and  his  party, 
perhaps,  the  Senate. 

So  the  scene  was  set  for  1892.  The  country  was  in 
revolt  against  privilege.  But  for  a  single  cloud  upon  the 
horizon  there  was  reason  to  anticipate  a  complete  Demo- 
cratic victory. 

That  cloud  was  the  silver  question. 

Silver,  which  for  two  centuries  had  ruled  in  price  as 
fifteen  or  sixteen  to  one,  in  weight  of  gold,  had  been 


"THE    SHOPPING    WOMAN"         77 

" demonetized"  in  1873  by  the  cessation  of  coinage, 
except  for  fractional  currency.  The  silver  men  sought 
in  the  Bland  Act  of  1878  to  provide  for  unlimited  free 
coinage  of  silver,  but  the  act  as  passed  limited  coinage  to 
two  million  dollars  a  month  for  government  account. 
This  law  was  replaced  in  1890  by  the  Sherman  Act,  which 
required  the  Treasury  to  buy  four  million  five  hundred 
thousand  ounces  of  silver  a  month  and  issue  against  it 
bullion  certificates.  But  silver  advocates  had  not  ceased 
to  demand  unlimited  coinage  at  sixteen  to  one,  and  both 
parties  coquetted  with  them.  Mr.  Bland  was  a  Demo- 
crat; Mr.  Sherman  was  a  Republican.  William  McKin- 
ley,  who  was  afterward  to  be  a  successful  candidate  upon 
a  sound-money  platform,  ran  for  Governor  of  Ohio  in 
1891  upon  this  statement  of  his  position  with  regard  to 
silver : 

The  silver  dollar  now  issued  under  a  limited  coinage  has  eighty 
cents  of  intrinsic  value  in  it,  so  accredited  the  world  over,  and  the 
other  twenty  cents  is  legislative  will — the  mere  breath  of  Congress. 
That  is,  what  the  dollar  lacks  of  value  to  make  it  a  perfect  dollar 
Congress  supplies  by  public  declaration  and  holds  the  extra  twenty 
cents  in  the  Treasury  for  its  protection. 

It  would  not  be  uncharitable  to  conclude  that  Mr. 
McKinley's  opinions  upon  the  silver  question  were  at 
that  time  hazy. 

The  World  nailed  him  to  the  policy  of  the  Republican 
administration  and  denounced  the  Sherman  Act  as  in- 
troducing into  our  legislation  "the  false  and  dangerous 
theory  that  it  is  the  business  of  the  Government  to  main- 
tain the  price  of  a  commodity  by  compulsory  purchase  of 
it — a  theory  which  has  already  borne  fruit  in  a  series  of 
wild  warehouse  proposals  of  a  socialistic  sort." 

In  its  desire  to  see  taxation  reduced,  economy  enforced, 
and  corruption  checked  in  the  federal  government  The 
World  was  anxious  to  guide  its  party  away  from  rash 


78  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

action  upon  silver.  It  favored  an  international  monetary 
conference  upon  bimetallism,  expecting  no  result  except 
delay.  It  urged  moderation  upon  both  factions.  For 
the  time  such  efforts  succeeded.  The  tariff  again  led 
among  issues  in  1892. 

Then  the  demand  for  a  debased  currency  returned  to 
plague  American  politics  for  years  and  to  delay  atten- 
tion to  the  need  of  a  progressive  policy  upon  the  tariff 
and  the  trusts. 


VII 

DAVID   B.    HILL 

1891-1892 

Mr.  Hill's  Election  as  Senator — His  Long  Tenure  of  the  Governorship — 
Disputes  Cleveland's  Standing  as  ''Favorite  Son"  of  New  York — The 
Snap  Convention  —  "The  World"  Forces  Cleveland's  Nomination  —  Its 
Course  During  the  Homestead  Strike — An  Incident  of  Editing  at  a  Dis- 
tance— Elaine  and  Chili;  His  Retirement — "  The  Next  President  Must  Be 
a  Democrat" — Chairman  Hackett's  Search  for  "Discreet"  Men — Cleve- 
land's Election  and  Its  Lessons. 

SINCE  Daniel  Tompkins  and  George  Clinton  no  Gov- 
ernor has  served  New  York  so  long  as  David  Bennett 
Hill. 

Elected  Lieutenant-Governor  with  Mr.  Cleveland,  Hill 
finished  his  unexpired  term  and  was  twice  re-elected  for 
three-year  periods.  Chosen  Senator  in  1891,  he  remained 
in  the  Governor's  chair  until  the  assembling  of  Congress. 

Mr.  Hill  was  an  able  man,  a  skilled  political  manager,  an 
excellent  Governor.  Circumstances  made  him  the  natural 
successor  of  Robinson,  Tilden,  and  Cleveland  as  a  leader 
of  up-state  men  and  a  check  upon  Tammany.  He  cared 
little  for  money,  though  he  philosophically  accepted  the 
greed  of  others  as  a  fact  with  which  a  practical  politician 
must  deal.  No  instance  of  profiting  by  a  dishonest  act 
was  brought  home  to  him,  unless  his  acceptance  of  a 
lawyer's  retainer  from  an  insurance  company  seeking 
political  complaisance  merits  that  description.  He  pre- 
ferred working  by  conclave  and  cabal.  He  never  learned 
the  lesson,  taught  by  Cleveland  and  Hughes  and  Wilson, 
of  appealing  to  the  people  over  the  heads  of  politicians. 


80  THE    STORY    OF   A   PAGE 

A  better  reading  of  public  opinion  would  have  saved  him 
the  blunder  of  the  "snap  convention"  of  1892. 

With  Cleveland  beaten  in  1888,  Hill  carried  to  the 
Senate  a  debatable  title  as  the  "favorite  son  of  a  pivotal 
state."  He  had  a  clear-cut  tariff  policy  which  was 
practically  that  pursued  by  the  Underwood  Democrats  in 
1911.  Said  The  World,  describing  it: 

If  the  House  passes  a  bill  to  put  binding-twine  upon  the  free 
list;  another  to  do  the  same  for  the  hoop-iron  with  which 
farmers  bind  their  hay  and  cotton;  others  to  free  from  tax 
wool,  iron  ores,  tin-plate,  and  other  raw  materials  of  manu- 
facture; others  to  remove  the  compensatory  duties  placed  upon 
woolen  fabrics  and  other  manufactured  articles,  as  an  offset 
to  the  duties  on  raw  materials,  the  Senate  will  meditate  a  long 
time  before  assuming  the  risk  of  denying  to  the  people  these 
concrete  measures  of  relief. 

It  seemed  in  a  man  so  near  greatness  an  amazing  blunder 
when  Senator  Hill,  desiring  to  profit  by  conditions  so 
promising  of  Democratic  success,  planned  early  in  1892 
to  call  the  state  convention  on  Washington's  Birthday,  and 
at  that  unprecedented  date  to  select  New  York's  delegates 
to  the  Chicago  convention.  The  World  warned  him  in 
emphatic  language,  "Don't!"  "We  understand,"  it 
said,  "that  this  day  has  been  definitely  decided  upon  by 
yourself  and  your  friends  after  most  careful  consideration. 
We  do  not  expect  that  you  will  change  it.  But  we  do  say 
plainly  and  emphatically  that  you  ought  to  do  so." 

Two  weeks  before  the  snap  convention  The  World 
again  warned  Hill  of  what  was  to  happen:  "Don't  over- 
look forty-three  other  States  while  seizing  your  own." 
A  month  after  the  convention  it  reminded  him  that  the 
result  of  his  active  personal  campaign  had  "revived  Mr. 
Cleveland  as  a  sentimental  possibility  in  the  face  of  Mr. 
Hill's  unanimous  State  Committee,  unanimous  State  Con- 
vention, unanimous  delegation,  the  apparent  unanimity 


DAVID    B.    HILL  81 

of  nearly  all  Democratic  politicians  and  office-holders  in 
New  York,  and  the  seeming  impossibility  that  Mr.  Cleve- 
land can  carry  the  State  under  such  extraordinary  circum- 
stances." But  Mr.  Hill  was  far  from  being  disquieted. 
He  mismeasured  political  forces  by  counting  delegates  and 
estimating  combinations  of  leaders. 

In  fact,  he  played  The  World's  cards.  The  newspaper 
regarded  Cleveland  as  the  logical  candidate  on  a  tariff- 
reform  platform,  but  doubted  how  the  country  would 
view  his  chances  in  New  York  with  his  party  divided  and 
his  prestige  broken  by  1888.  Hill's  act  convinced  the 
country  that,  if  such  desperate  measures  were  necessary 
to  oppose  a  rival,  that  rival's  strength  must  be  formidable. 
Also,  it  inspired  doubts  whether  Hill  himself  was  of 
Presidential  stature.  In  the  end  The  World  was  able 
to  pronounce  him  "an  impossible  candidate."  And 
where  in  February,  taking  stock  of  the  Democratic  ma- 
terial, it  had  enumerated  Gov.  Horace  Boies  of  Iowa, 
Gov.  Robert  E.  Pattison  of  Pennsylvania,  Senator  John 
M.  Palmer  of  Illinois,  Senator  John  G.  Carlisle  of  Ken- 
tucky, Chief  Justice  Melville  W.  Fuller,  Senator  Arthur 
P.  Gorman  of  Maryland,  Gov.  William  E.  Russell  of 
Massachusetts,  Gov.  Isaac  P.  Gray  of  Delaware,  and 
Gov.  Leon  Abbett  of  New  Jersey  as  Presidential  ma- 
terial, by  June  10th  it  could  announce  that  "the  great 
majority  of  the  Democrats  of  the  Union"  seemed  to  pre- 
fer Mr.  Cleveland.  A  month  before  the  convention, 
which  assembled  unusually  late  in  July,  it  assured  the 
country  that  Mr.  Cleveland  "can  carry  it  [New  York]  if 
any  Democrat  can.  He  is  stronger  in  this  State  than  any 
other  man  who  is  named."  And  the  next  day: 

If  the  Convention  shall  have  the  courage  of  its  preference 
and  nominate  Mr.  Cleveland,  The  World  believes  that  he  will 
have  the  largest  vote  ever  cast  for  a  Democratic  candidate  in 
this  State. 


82  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

We  said  this  in  1884,  and  the  election  sustained  our  opinion. 
We  did  not  say  it  in  1888  because  the  circumstances  did  not 
warrant  it.  We  say  it  now  to  reassure  any  with  whom  doubt 
may  linger  at  Chicago. 

Cleveland  can  win. 

Owing  to  ill  health,  Mr.  Pulitzer  was  not  in  the  country, 
but  his  position  was  well  understood;  and  he  had  in  charge 
of  the  editorial  page  the  late  William  Henry  Merrill,  a 
man  fully  capable  of  impressing  it  upon  the  Democracy 
in  Chicago  that  the  candidate  favored  by  the  seventy-two 
delegates  of  New  York,  voting  under  the  unit  rule,  was  not 
the  choice  of  the  voters.  How  anxiously  the  paper  was 
watched  in  Chicago,  and  what  use  the  Cleveland  men 
made  of  its  smashing  blows,  is  an  inseparable  part  of  the 
story  of  that  brief  and,  on  the  surface,  eventless  gathering. 

The  paramount  service  The  World  rendered  Mr. 
Cleveland  in  1884  was  in  compelling  his  success  at  the 
polls  by  a  narrow  margin.  Its  previous  work  in  con- 
vincing the  convention  that  New  York,  like  General 
Bragg,  " loved  him  most  for  the  enemies  he  had  made" 
was  secondary. 

In  1892  the  conditions  were  reversed.  Perhaps  any 
strong  Democratic  ticket  would  have  won.  The  tran- 
scendant  service  rendered  that  year  by  The  World  was 
its  heartening  of  Cleveland  sentiment  in  the  nominating 
body.  The  convention  could  not  ignore  such  assurances 
as  this,  coming  on  the  eve  of  its  assembling  from  the 
columns  of  the  great  independent  Democratic  spokesman 
of  the  rank  and  file: 

Mr.  Cleveland  is  not  a  new  and  untried  man.  He  was 
President  for  four  years.  He  was  under  the  searchlight 
during  a  second  campaign.  He  has  been  before  the  public,  in 
letter  or  speech,  many  times  since  his  defeat.  The  people 
know  him — his  faults  as  well  as  his  virtues.  If  they  want  him, 
why  shouldn't  they  have  him? 


DAVID    B.    HILL  83 

Are  seventy-two  delegates,  elected  last  winter  under  snap 
rules,  more  sure  to  know  tha  strength  of  a  candidate  than 
seven  hundred  delegates  chosen  at  proper  times,  in  proper 
ways,  and  assembled  in  June? 

Democracy  should  be  Democratic.  .  .  . 

To  say  that  Mr.  Cleveland  would  not  be  a  strong  candidate 
is  to  say  that  the  Democracy  does  not  prize  honesty,  sincerity, 
and  courage.  It  is  to  say  that  the  cause  of  tariff  reform  and 
honest  and  economical  government,  which  triumphed  greatly 
in  the  elections  of  1890  and  again  last  year,  is  not  strong 
enough  to  elect  its  most  conspicuous  champion.  Can  a  party 
that  is  afraid  of  its  principles  win?  Does  it  deserve  to 
win? 

The  World  believes  that  the  Democracy  is  strong  enough  to 
elect  its  first  choice  for  President  and  that  its  first  choice  is 
stronger  than  any  other  would  be. 

HilPs  snap  convention  failed  of  its  purpose.  He  re- 
ceived but  forty-two  votes  in  the  convention  besides  the 
seventy-two  from  New  York.  In  that  manner  began 
The  World's  disagreement  with  Mr.  Hill  that  lasted,  with 
one  brief  truce,  to  the  end  of  his  career. 

Just  previous  to  the  national  convention  had  come 
one  of  the  instances  where  the  absence  of  Mr.  Pulitzer 
affected  the  conduct  of  the  paper  in  a  crisis. 

In  the  strike  of  the  Carnegie  workmen  at  Homestead, 
Pennsylvania,  the  country  had  an  example  of  the  "  bene- 
fits to  American  labor"  of  the  McKinley  bill,  and  The 
World  proceeded  to  improve  it: 

Under  the  McKinley  Act  the  people  are  paying  taxes  of 
nearly  $20,000,000  and  a  much  larger  sum  in  bounties  to 
Carnegie,  Phipps  &  Co.,  and  their  fellows,  for  the  alleged 
purpose  of  benefiting  the  wage-earners.  And  yet  there  is  war 
at  the  Homestead  works,  and  the  employers  have  enlisted 
Pinkerton  Hessians  and  fortified  their  property  in  order  that 
they  may  pour  scalding  water  on  their  discharged  workmen  if 
an  attack  is  made  upon  them. — July  1st. 


84  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

Is  it  right  that  a  private  detective  agency  shall  maintain  a 
standing  army,  a  thing  forbidden  even  to  the  several  States  of 
the  Union?  Is  it  well  that  a  body  of  armed  mercenaries  shall 
be  held  thus  at  the  service  of  whomsoever  has  money  with  which 
to  hire  them? — July  2d. 

If  force  must  be  used  to  sustain  the  beneficiaries  of  protection 
in  reducing  wages  and  breaking  down  labor  organizations  it  is 
better  that  it  should  be  the  citizen  soldiery  of  the  State,  for 
the  workmen  will  not  resist  them. — July  llth. 

There  was  nothing  incendiary  in  this,  nothing  untrue. 
Provocation  to  plain  speech  was  never  greater.  But  a 
note  that  readers  had  learned  to  look  for  in  The  World's 
columns  was  lacking. 

The  World  had  never  from  its  first  day  been  a  sensational 
paper.  It  had  sought  by  every  means  to  arrest  attention, 
and  it  had  been  labeled  sensational  by  rivals  for  sur- 
passing them  in  initiative,  originality,  and  success.  But 
it  had  never  played  for  popularity  by  muddling  a  question 
of  morals. 

Now  in  its  editorial  treatment  of  the  Homestead 
crisis,  taken  with  the  presentation  of  the  news,  there  was 
sensationalism.  Here  was  a  grave  condition  in  which  the 
supreme  claims  of  order  were  to  be  enforced  at  all  hazards 
upon  workmen  maddened  by  the  blood  of  their  seven 
dead,  upon  employers  resolved  to  refuse  compromise. 
Was  The  World  to  neglect  the  teaching  that  the  public 
interest  was  paramount  to  private  war? 

Between  July  llth  and  July  12th  something  happened 
in  The  World  editorial  rooms.  The  leading  article  of 
July  12th  bears  evidence  of  Mr.  Pulitzer's  personal  touch. 
This  was  the  burden  of  it : 

There  is  but  one  thing  for  the  locked-out  men  to  do.  They 
must  submit  to  the  law.  They  must  keep  the  peace.  Their 
quarrel  is  with  their  employers.  They  must  not  make  it  a 
quarrel  with  organized  society.  It  is  a  protest  against  wage 


DAVID    B.    HILL  85 

reduction.  It  must  not  be  made  a  revolt  against  law  and  order. 
They  must  not  resist  the  authority  of  the  State.  They  must 
not  make  war  upon  the  community. 

There  was  no  retraction  of  what  had  been  said.  The 
helmsman  had  nodded;  the  ship  had  veered.  She  was 
set  right  again,  and  went  on.  The  World  did  not  cease 
to  score  Mr.  Frick  for  preferring  to  "  appeal  to  Pinkerton 
rather  than  to  the  lawful  officers  of  his  State."  It  did 
not  cease  to  hold  up  the  lesson  of  this  failure  of  the 
McKinley  law  to  make  protected  working-men  prosperous 
and  contented.  But  it  did  not  again  forget  to  uphold  the 
general  interest  in  peace. 

This  is  what  had  happened: 

Mr.  Pulitzer  was  in  Paris,  ill  and  suffering,  when  the 
Homestead  trouble  broke.  His  first  thought  was  for 
The  World.  When  day  by  day  the  accounts  in  the  London 
journals  grew  more  grave  he  had  quotations  from  his  paper 
sent  to  him  by  cable.  At  receipt  of  them  he  was  horrified 
and  incensed.  Emotional  by  nature,  strong  in  his  sym- 
pathies with  working-men,  harassed  by  his  inability  more 
closely  to  direct  his  papers,  he  suffered  one  of  the  worst 
crises  of  his  long  illness. 

One  of  The  World  editors  who  was  with  him  tried  to 
reassure  him  by  saying  that  the  trouble  was  perhaps 
exaggerated. 

"  There  have  been  as  many  men  killed  and  wounded  in 
this  labor  war  as  in  many  a  South  American  revolution," 
he  said;  and  the  wires  grew  hot  with  orders  which  re- 
versed the  editorial  policy  of  The  World.  Some  phrases 
from  his  cablegrams  appear  in  the  article  just  quoted. 

Against  men  who  blundered,  as  in  this  case,  Mr. 
Pulitzer  commonly  cherished  no  resentment.  He  pre- 
ferred a  man  who  erred  strongly,  taking  his  own  line  in 
an  emergency,  to  an  irresolute  one.  Lack  of  courage  in 
assuming  responsibility  was  the  fault  he  could  not  forgive. 


86  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

The  early  part  of  1892  was  a  busy  time  for  The  World. 
Late  in  1891  a  row  had  occurred  in  the  drinking-houses 
of  Valparaiso  between  United  States  navy  men  and 
Chilians,  in  which  one  of  the  former  was  killed  and 
several  were  hurt.  The  Administration  on  October  26th 
made  a  demand  upon  Chili  for  reparation.  By  the  new 
year  the  situation  was  acute.  President  Harrison  was 
inclined  to  see  a  political  asset  in  a  vigorous  attitude.  Mr. 
Elaine,  though  he  had  erred  in  sending  the  fiery  Patrick 
Egan  as  Minister  to  Chili,  sought  to  compose  the  difficulty. 
So  The  World  had  again  to  speak  of  him  as  "the  mitiga- 
tion of  this  administration.'7  To  the  talk  of  war  prepara- 
tions it  opposed  a  cool  common  sense : 

Preparations  for  what?  For  war  with  Chili.  Indeed!  And 
why? 

Because,  forsooth,  a  few  United  States  sailors  and  a  few 
Valparaiso  policemen  could  not  agree  upon  a  fitting  color  for 
the  town.  We  said  red.  They  said  blue.  The  result  was  a 
compromise  on  blue.  It  was  their  town. 

When  late  in  January  the  pacific  bearing  of  Chili 
promised  a  prompt  settlement  of  the  dispute  The  World 
found  in  Mr.  Elaine's  " interference"  the  protest  of  reason 
against  a  policy  of  bluster,  leading  to  needless  and  dis- 
honorable war.  "The  sober  judgment  and  the  en- 
lightened patriotism  of  the  country"  were  behind  Mr. 
Elaine,  and  would  welcome  such  "interference"  to  save 
us  from  "the  calamity  of  war  and  the  shame  of  arrogant 
wrong-doing." 

There  was  even  then  the  coal  conspiracy  to  rob  New 
York,  and  The  World  in  1892  fought  it  as  it  did  later. 
The  Coeur  d'Alene  strike  in  the  West  and  the  railroad 
strikes  in  Buffalo,  to  which  Governor  Flower  sent  militia, 
kept  the  people's  temper  at  boiling-point.  In  March  an 
attempt  was  made  by  Boss  Croker  of  Tammany  to  take 
from  the  west  side  of  Central  Park  a  strip  of  land  for  a 


DAVID    B.    HILL  87 

" speedway,"  such  a  semi-private  race- course  for  trotting- 
horse  owners  as  now  disfigures  the  western  bank  of  the 
Harlem.  A  bill  providing  for  this  vandalism  was  rail- 
roaded through  the  Legislature  and  signed  by  Governor 
Flower.  The  World,  focusing  an  instant  storm  of  public 
anger  upon  the  job,  compelled  a  repeal. 

With  late  summer  came  a  cholera  scare,  the  latest  of 
any  consequence  in  New  York.  Possibilities  of  trouble 
were  shown  in  Hamburg,  where  eighty-five  hundred 
people  died.  In  New  York  The  World  took  the  occasion 
to  secure  some  improvement  in  local  sanitation.  Gov- 
ernor Flower  bought  a  landing-station  upon  Fire  Island 
to  quarantine  arrivals  by  steamship.  The  embattled 
farmers  and  oystermen  of  Long  Island  gathered  with 
pitchforks,  fowling-guns,  and  clubs  to  prevent  American 
citizens  from  stepping  on  the  soil  of  their  own  country, 
and  there  was  an  exhibition  of  silly  panic  which  it  is  not 
pleasant  to  remember. 

But  the  chief  interest  of  1892  was  its  political  revolution. 
In  June,  1891,  two  events  had  put  an  end  to  Blaine's  hopes 
for  the  Presidency.  The  first  was  his  own  recurring 
illness,  which  drove  him  to  a  long  rest  at  Bar  Harbor. 
The  second  was  President  Harrison's  "  swinging  round  the 
circle"  with  a  series  of  public  addresses  which  revealed 
him  as  one  of  the  ablest  men  of  his  party  and  strengthened 
his  following.  On  January  7th  Mr.  Blaine  had  again 
withdrawn  his  name  from  consideration  as  a  candidate, 
but  his  friends  refused  to  consider  his  declination  final, 
and,  with  a  devotion  comparable  to  that  of  the  Stalwart 
three  hundred  and  six  for  Grant  in  1880,  Platt,  Quay,  and 
others  carried  the  fight  to  the  Minneapolis  convention, 
where  182^  votes  were  cast  for  Blaine  and  182  for  the 
permanent  chairman,  that  more  favored  man  of  destiny, 
William  McKinley.  But  Harrison  was  an  easy  winner. 
Blaine  had  resigned  from  the  cabinet  on  June  4th.  Thus 
closed  his  public  activities. 


88  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

On  the  heels  of  the  McKinley  bill  had  come  financial 
troubles.  Between  the  signing  of  the  bill  in  October, 
1890,  and  July  20,  1892,  four  hundred  strikes  against  wage 
reductions  were  listed  by  The  World.  To  make  its  posi- 
tion clear  for  the  campaign  the  Democratic  House  passed 
bills  putting  wool,  binding-twine,  and  cotton  ties  on  the 
free  list,  and  these  had  been  killed  in  the  Republican 
Senate.  The  silver  question  had  been  by  tacit  consent 
relegated  to  the  rear  when  Great  Britain  consented  to  an 
international  conference  upon  bimetallism,  which  later 
adjourned  without  result.  Extravagance  had  been  no- 
torious in  the  effort  to  spend  the  surplus  without  reducing 
taxation.  Green  B.  Raum,  who  as  Pension  Commissioner 
had  succeeded  to  Corporal  Tanner  and  his  cry  of  "God 
help  the  surplus!"  had  proved  almost  as  "generous  to  the 
veterans."  He  estimated  the  pension  expenditure  for 
1892  at  one  hundred  and  eighty  million  dollars,  a  sum 
never  reached  until  1913. 

No  one  who  followed  Mr.  Cleveland's  second  successful 
campaign  for  the  Presidency  is  likely  to  forget  the  fight 
The  World  made  for  him.  It  had  confidence  in  his  success, 
as  it  had  not  had  in  1888.  It  had  four  years  of  growth 
in  strength  and  concentration.  On  June  12th  it  sum- 
marized the  grounds  of  the  contest: 

The  next  President  must  be  a  Democrat.    No  more  Force  bills. 

The  next  President  must  be  a  Democrat.  No  perpetual  war  taxes. 

The  next  President  must  be  a  Democrat.  No  more  billion- 
dollarism. 

The  next  President  must  be  a  Democrat.  No  more  Wana- 
makerism  in  the  Cabinet  or  Woodses  on  the  bench. 

The  next  President  must  be  a  Democrat.  No  everlasting 
tariff  for  monopolies  only. 

The  next  President  must  be  a  Democrat.  No  more  bounties 
or  subsidies  to  favored  classes. 

The  next  President  must  be  a  Democrat.  No  more  minority 
rule. 


DAVID    B.    HILL  89 

Throughout  the  campaign  The  World  continued  to  in- 
sist upon  its  text.  It  early  pointed  out  that-  Cleveland's 
chances  of  winning  electors  in  the  West  were  by  no  means 
chimerical.  To  advertise  this  fact,  rather  than  for  the 
financial  aid  it  rendered,  it  began  the  collection  of  a 
Western  campaign  fund.  This  undertaking  gave  the 
chance  for  pointing  some  contrasts : 

The  Western  Democratic  Campaign  Fund  is  not  a  Wanamaker 
fund.  [Alluding  to  the  money  raised  by  Mr.  Wanamaker  in 
1888,  for  which  he  was  rewarded  with  a  place  in  Harrison's 
Cabinet.]] 

It  does  not  represent  the  campaign  blackmail  levied  on  favored 
plutocrats  to  perpetuate  plutocratic  legislation. 

It  is  not  an  exaction  wrung  from  office-holders  in  violation 
of  the  Civil  Service  law. 

It  does  not  appeal  to  the  instincts  of  greed  to  swell  the 
resources  of  venality. 

It  will  not  place  in  the  hands  of  Quays  and  Dudleys  the  means 
of  thwarting  the  will  of  the  people. 

And  there  was  this  further  contrast — publicity.  The 
people  knew  how  much  money  The  World  raised,  and  for 
what.  They  did  not  know,  they  do  not  yet  know,  how 
much  was  raised  by  the  Quays  and  the  Dudleys.  The 
activity  of  vote-buyers  in  the  campaign  was  reserved 
for  the  closing  smash  of  many  an  editorial,  like  this 
of  October  2d: 

The  Republican  record  includes : 

A  squandered  surplus  of  $100,000,000. 

A  worse  than  war  tariff. 

Increased  taxes. 

The  multiplication  of  monopolies. 

The  menace  of  a  Force  bill. 

Inflation  with  65-cent  dollars. 

State-stealing  and  seat-grabbing. 

The  protection  of  Republican  rascals. 


90  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

A  carnival  of  spoils. 
Renomination  by  office-holders. 

As  a  fitting  climax  the  record  is  crowned  with  a  bold  attempt 
to  carry  the  election  by  bribery  and  fraud. 

Much  use  was  made  in  the  campaign  of  a  tabulation  of 
the  strikes  entered  into  since  the  passage  of  the  McKinley 
bill — strikes  against  reductions  of  wages  in  many  cases. 
No  more  forceful  description  of  the  genesis  of  the  McKin- 
ley bill  could  well  be  made  than  that  of  Charles  J.  Harrah, 
a  Pennsylvania  steel-maker,  who  wrote  toward  the  close 
of  the  campaign: 

This  tariff  belongs  to  us;  we  bought  it,  we  paid  for  it,  and 
it  is  ours;  we  did  not  put  up  our  money  to  increase  the  price 
of  labor,  to  increase  wages,  and  therefore  we  have  not  done  it; 
we  put  up  the  money  to  buy  the  legislation  we  wanted,  and 
we  got  it.  It  is  ours;  we  bought  it  and  paid  for  it,  and  that 
is  the  whole  story. 

Mr.  Harrah's  "We  bought  it  and  paid  for  it"  was 
sarcastic  and  repentant.  In  1888  he  had  been  for  Har- 
rison; in  1892  he  was  for  Cleveland.  On  November  3d 
he  published  in  The  World  a  letter  worthy  of  preservation 
as  an  early  recognition  of  how  the  nation-wide  movement 
toward  the  trustification  of  industry  received  from  the 
McKinley  bill  its  tremendous  impetus: 

The  results  of  the  enactment  of  the  measure  were  soon  felt. 
Over-protection  begat  over-production.  Plants  were  built  and 
started  that  the  natural  laws  of  trade  and  commerce  did  not 
call  into  existence,  and  the  men  who  had  been  foolishly  entering 
into  these  new  enterprises  in  the  hope  of  speedily  realizing 
large  fortunes  were  threatened  with  bankruptcy.  It  became 
apparent  to  them  that  something  had  to  be  done  in  order  to 
save  their  investment. 

There  were  three  courses  for  them  to  pursue.  The  first  one, 
and  the  one  which  was  most  eminently  successful,  was  that 


DAVID    B.    HILL  91 

adopted  by  the  syndicate  which  bought  up  the  sugar  refineries 
and,  by  closing  down  those  that  were  most  expensive  to  operate, 
restricted  the  production,  curtailed  expenses,  and  was  able  to 
regulate  the  prices  of  production  in  such  a  manner  that  enor- 
mous fortunes  were  soon  made  for  its  members  at  the  expense 
of  the  public  in  general. 

Mr.  Harrah  had  given  ten  thousand  dollars  to  the  Harri- 
son fund  in  1888,  and  was  disquieted  at  the  uses  to  which 
money  had  been  put.  There  were  evidences  in  the  new 
campaign  of  the  desperation  to  which  the  buyers  of  the 
previous  victory  had  been  reduced.  One  such  was  amus- 
ing. The  World  offered  a  prize  of  five  hundred  dollars 
for  the  best  Cleveland  campaign  song.  It  was  won  by  a 
clerk  in  a  government  office,  but  his  name  could  not  be 
given.  The  World  explained:  "He  would  like  the  reward, 
but  declines  the  fame.  He  holds  office  under  the  Repub- 
licans, and  he  thinks  he  cannot  afford  to  wear  the  laurel 
crown."  So  the  prize  had  to  be  paid  privately  through  a 
well-known  bank  president. 

The  place  taken  in  1888  by  "  Blocks-of-Five "  Dudley 
was  filled  in  1892  by  a  new  figure  in  the  limelight,  Chair- 
man Hackett,  of  the  executive  committee  of  the  Repub- 
lican National  Committee,  who  sent  to  every  post- 
master in  New  York  a  confidential  letter  asking  the  names 
of  "from  eight  to  twelve  of  the  most  active,  earnest,  dis- 
creet, and  trustworthy  young  Republicans  of  each  town." 
"Discretion  and  ability  to  keep  a  secret"  were  insisted 
upon  in  another  passage.  Day  after  day  The  World 
reprinted  this  damning  document,  with  comment  drawn 
from  the  history  of  past  corruption. 

In  the  end  the  election  turned  upon  public  hatred  of  the 
McKinley  bill,  upon  labor  troubles  which  gave  the  lie  to 
its  promises  of  fostering  the  working-man,  and  upon 
manifold  evidences  of  corruption.  As  The  World  sum- 
marized it  after  election  "The  corruption  fund  brought 
out  the  conscience  vote." 


92  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

And  what  a  victory!  A  popular  plurality  of  382,956 
was  rolled  up.  Mr.  Cleveland  would  have  had  sixty 
electoral  majority  even  if  New  York  had  gone  Republican, 
which  it  failed  to  do  by  the  margin  of  45,518.  New  Jersey 
and  Connecticut,  Indiana  and  Illinois,  Wisconsin  and 
California  went  for  Cleveland,  and  he  drew  five  district 
electoral  votes  from  Michigan.  One  ludicrous  result  of 
the  poll  was  "poetic  justice  in  the  gain  of  a  Senator  from 
Wyoming  by  the  Democrats."  This  state  was  hustled 
into  the  Union  to  confirm  the  Republican  grip  upon  the 
Senate.  Now  an  unexpected  Senator  from  Wyoming 
gave  the  Democrats  the  forty-four  votes  they  needed  to 
control  the  Upper  House. 

And  so  there  came  again  to  the  Presidency  the  man  of 
whom  at  the  beginning  of  the  campaign  The  World  had  said : 

The  secret  of  such  a  career  is  surely  worth  finding  out.  And 
it  lies  on  the  surface  of  the  life-story  told  in  The  World  to-day. 
Mr.  Cleveland  was  never  regarded  as  a  man  of  exceptional 
ability  before  he  was  called  to  high  place.  But  when  the 
voters  of  New  York  made  him  Governor  he  accepted  public 
office  as  a  public  trust,  with  a  sincerity  of  mind  rarely  equaled. 
In  office  he  put  aside  those  considerations  of  policy  which 
customarily  govern  even  the  most  high-minded  statesmen, 
and  discharged  every  duty  with  sole  reference  to  his  convictions 
of  right.  He  did  many  things  that  were  sure  to  cost  him  votes 
in  any  subsequent  candidacy  he  might  enter  upon.  He  did 
them  with  a  sense 'of  duty  and  with  a  courage  and  devotion 
truly  admirable.  He  made  mistakes,  too,  but  they  were 
mistakes  of  a  sincere  mind. 

Without  retracting  one  word  of  this  tribute  The  World 
was  forced  to  offer  to  Mr.  Cleveland  within  the  next  four 
years,  in  issues  of  vital  importance,  as  strong  opposition 
as  he  or  any  President  ever  received.  Yet  it  was  to  re- 
tain its  own  high  appreciation  of  Mr.  Cleveland's  qualities 
and  his  gratitude  and  friendship  to  the  end  of  his  great 
career. 


VIII 

REACTION 

1893-1895 

A  Period  of  Disaster — The  Panic  of  1893  and  Its  Political  Consequences — 
Hawaii,  and  the  Beginnings  of  Imperialism — A  Bought  Embassy — The 
Betrayal  of  the  Wilson  Bill — John  Y.  McKane's  Downfall  in  Gravesend 
— Hill  Runs  for  Governor  Again  and  Is  Beaten — The  Pullman  Strike — 
Cleveland  Sends  Soldiers — Republicans  Sweep  the  Country  in  1894 — 
The  China-Japanese  War — The  Income  Tax  Declared  Unconstitutional 
— Theodore  Roosevelt,  Police  Commissioner,  and  the  Short-Lived  Reform 
in  New  York  Under  Mayor  Strong. 

THE  second  term  of  Grover  Cleveland  as  President 
covers  a  period  upon  which  few  thoughtful  Americans  can 
look  back  without  regret.  It  was  a  time  when  people, 
pricked  by  petty  annoyances,  nurtured  giant  wrongs  for 
fresh  growth;  when  angered  by  causes  they  attacked  con- 
sequences ;  when  in  the  chase  of  economic  heresy  they  de- 
layed for  almost  twoscore  years  the  initiative  of  reforms. 

The  advance-guard  of  the  panic  of  1893  was  the  Baring 
failure  at  Christmas,  1890.  The  trouble  was  well  under 
way  before  Harrison  left  the  White  House.  It  was  has- 
tened by  the  failure  of  the  Cordage  Trust,  an  ordinary 
crime  of  swollen  capitalization  which  attracted  attention 
because  it  was  managed  by  men  prominent  in  New  York 
society.  The  worst  of  the  storm  was  spent  while  the 
McKinley  tariff  was  still  in  force.  It  was  much  intensi- 
fied by  the  financial  recklessness  of  the  Silver  Purchase 
Act,  a  Republican  measure.  Yet  the  beneficiaries  of 
high  protection  succeeded  in  making  many  believe  it  a 


94  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

Democratic  panic.  The  labor  troubles  of  1893-95  height- 
ened discontent.  Both  parties  coquetted  with  financial 
repudiation,  and  the  party  to  which  the  country  looked 
for  federal  reforms  contracted  with  it  a  fatal  mesalliance. 
A  long  record  of  defeat  was  to  be  the  result. 

At  the  end  of  1892  Mr.  Elaine 's  plans  for  the  acquisition 
of  Hawaii  matured;  and,  though  he  was  no  longer  in  the 
State  Department,  there  was  upon  the  spot  a  friend  and 
neighbor  to  represent  the  United  States  along  Elaine 
lines.  Said  The  World  February  10,  1893: 

As  early  as  November  24th  the  Kennebec  Journal,  of  Maine, 
of  which  our  Minister  Stevens  at  Honolulu  is  editor,  contained 
an  article  foreshadowing  the  recent  revolution  in  Hawaii. 

When  the  revolution  occurred  it  happened,  "by  the  merest 
accident  in  the  world,"  that  the  man-of-war  Boston  was  in 
the  harbor.  It  also  happened  that  as  soon  as  the  revolutionists 
thought  proper  to  act  our  Minister  Stevens  stood  ready  to 
"recognize  the  provisional  government,"  and  the  commander 
of  the  Boston  was  ready  to  land,  and  did  land,  several  hundred 
marines  and  sailors,  "armed  cap-a-pie,"  who  paraded  the  streets 
and  "preserved  order." 

The  World's  criticism  of  the  Elaine  tactics  in  Hawaii 
is  an  early  instance  of  its  hostility  to  imperialism.  It 
exposed  and  denounced  the  plot  to  complete  a  hurried 
annexation  before  Mr.  Cleveland  came  into  the  White 
House,  and  sustained  the  new  President  in  recalling  the 
treaty  with  the  provisional  government  and  sending  a 
"paramount  commissioner,"  James  H.  Blount.  Blount 
erred  through  overzeal,  and  was  replaced.  In  the  end  the 
provisional  government  formed  by  the  white  residents  of 
Honolulu  was  left  in  control  until  times  more  favorable 
to  their  project.  The  World  opposed  Mr.  Cleveland's 
plan  to  turn  the  government  over  to  Queen  Liliuokalani 
and  leave  the  white  residents  at  the  mercy  of  native 
revenge — procedure  which  was  checked  by  the  Turpie 


REACTION  95 

resolution.  But  it  as  strongly  opposed  annexation,  for 
reasons  which  apply  to  later  times  and  larger  islands. 
Hawaii  was  of  little  use  to  us.  It  would  be  difficult 
to  prevent  it  from  falling  into  an  enemy's  hands.  Its 
people  were  alien.  There  were  few  residents  upon  whom 
citizenship  could  be  conferred.  Its  government  would  be 
"a  hard  problem  and  a  cause  of  scandals  without  end." 

The  World  was  disappointed  in  Mr.  Cleveland's  Attor- 
ney-General, Richard  Olney.  The  exploitation  of  the 
people  through  the  McKinley  bill  by  the  Sugar  Trust, 
and  its  notoriously  watered  capitalization,  made  it  a 
conspicuous  mark  for  government  attack  under  the  Anti- 
trust law;  but  Mr.  Olney,  though  in  some  other  cases  he 
set  about  testing  the  Sherman  Act,  hesitated  to  attack 
the  Sugar  Trust.  He  even  expressed  after  his  retirement 
from  office  a  guarded  opinion  that  the  law  might  be  un- 
constitutional. A  strike  in  June,  1893,  among  the  ill- 
paid  foreign  workmen  of  the  Havemeyer  sugar-houses  in 
Brooklyn  gave  opportunity  for  a  sharp  contrast  of  two 
kinds  of  lawlessness: 

Mr.  Havemeyer's  firemen  and  boilermen  work  under  inhuman 
conditions  for  twelve  hours  in  twenty-four. 

They  very  respectfully  asked  him  to  reduce  their  hours  in 
consideration  of  the  cruel  and  dangerous  conditions. 

Mr.  Havemeyer  refused  to  heed  the  demand  of  humanity, 
lest  all  the  other  refineries  in  the  Sugar  Trust  should  be  com- 
pelled to  conform  to  a  rule  of  justice  which  costs  money. 

Then  he  sent  for  the  police,  in  order  that  the  trust  might 
have  the  strong  protection  of  the  law  for  its  pecuniary  interests, 
although  there  was  no  menace  or  suggestion  of  violence. 

But  how  admirable  was  Mr.  Havemeyer's  assurance  in  thus 
invoking  the  law  quite  as  any  law-abiding  citizen  might!  He 
knows  that  this  Sugar  Trust  of  his  is  a  lawless,  criminal  con- 
spiracy, denounced  as  such  by  both  Federal  and  State  statute. 
He  knows  that  its  very  existence  is  a  crime,  and  that  the  only 
reason  those  who  maintain  it  were  not  long  ago  brought  to 
trial  for  their  offense  is  that  there  has  been  an  era  of  inefficiency 


96  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

and  neglect  in  the  Attorney-General's  office,  during  which  only 
those  criminals  who  wear  shabby  clothes  and  have  no  social 
position  have  been  prosecuted. 

The  next  time  a  green-goods  gang  gets  into  difficulty,  by  all 
means  let  its  manager  send  for  the  police. 

It  was  in  these  disappointing  years  that  The  World 
began  its  long  campaign  to  end  the  floggings  inflicted  by 
Superintendent  Z.  R.  Brockway  in  the  Elmira  Reforma- 
tory, where  in  five  years  19,497  blows  were  struck;  not 
until  Theodore  Roosevelt  became  Governor,  however,  was 
Brockway  ousted.  The  World  urged  rapid  transit  with 
its  well-remembered  insistence  upon  "  Fifteen  Minutes  to 
Harlem, "  and  pushed  the  consolidation  of  New  York  in 
the  face  of  the  bitter  opposition  of  the  McLaughlin  Ring 
and  of  many  Brooklyn  property-owners.  Its  disclosures 
of  the  relations  of  the  police  to  vice  and  crime  forced  the 
Lexow  investigation  which  produced  great,  if  temporary, 
benefits.  It  urged  to  passage  the  tenement-house  law, 
which  it  has  since  defended  against  the  greed  that  seeks 
to  destroy  it  by  amendment  so  that  houses  and  human 
lives  may  be  cheaper. 

An  instance  of  the  influence  of  a  newspaper  in  com- 
pelling a  high  type  of  diplomatic  appointments  was  the 
Van  Alen  case,  which  in  its  time  made  some  noise. 

James  J.  Van  Alen  was  a  very  wealthy  man,  a  son-in- 
law  of  Mrs.  Astor,  a  resident  of  Newport,  undistinguished 
in  public  affairs,  in  which  he  had  taken  no  part  until  the 
1892  campaign,  when  he  gave  a  large  sum  to  the  Cleveland 
fund  with  the  understanding  that  he  was  to  "have  some- 
thing." He  chose  the  ministry  to  Rome,  and  was  ap- 
pointed. The  selection  was  no  worse  than  that  of  Wil- 
liam Waldorf  Astor  for  the  same  post  by  Arthur  in  1882 
or  of  Morton  as  Minister  to  Paris  by  Garfield.  How- 
ever, The  World  denounced  it  as  "an  affront  to  all  pa- 
triotic citizens."  It  called  attention  to  Van  Alen's  lack 
of  "public  service  or  prominence  earned."  It  brought 


REACTION  97 

out  the  fact  that  he  gave  a  large  sum  to  the  Democratic 
National  Committee  in  expectation  of  appointment — ua 
fact  which  he  has  himself  repeatedly  stated  with  a  frank- 
ness more  ingenuous  than  diplomatic.77  Mr.  Van  Alen 
was  confirmed  by  the  Senate  which  was  soon  afterward  to 
reject  New  York  appointments  of  higher  grade  on  lower 
motives,  but,  disgusted  by  the  storm  that  had  been  raised, 
he  soon  resigned  the  post. 

The  country  was  now  ripe  for  tariff  legislation,  and 
Mr.  Cleveland  called  a  special  session  of  Congress  August 
7,  1893,  for  that  purpose.  The  House,  which  chose 
Charles  F.  Crisp  as  Speaker  and  William  L.  Wilson  as 
Chairman  of  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee,  did  its  work 
promptly  and  well.  With  the  provisions  of  the  Wilson 
bill  The  World  was  well  satisfied.  "It  is  a  higher  tariff 
than  the  Morrill  tariff  of  1862.  It  is  nearly  as  high  as  the 
tariff  of  1883.  It  is  a  less  average  reduction  of  a  50-per- 
cent, tariff  than  the  Republican  Tariff  Commission  of 
1882  recommended  in  a  40-per-cent.  tariff.77  It  was,  in 
short,  a  compromise  such  as  The  World  had  urged  between 
the  extreme  positions  of  theoretical  free  trade  and  con- 
fiscatory  taxation;  such  a  tariff  as  moderate  men  still 
desire. 

This  " reconstructive,  not  destructive77  bill  the  Senate 
proceeded  to  destroy  by  amendment,  greatly  increasing 
protection.  Senators  Gorman  of  Maryland,  Smith  of  New 
Jersey,  Brice  of  Ohio,  and  others,  all  representatives  of 
highly  protected  interests,  accomplished  this  ruin.  With 
them  were  associated  Senator  Hill,  who  opposed  the 
income-tax  feature  of  the  bill,  and  Senator  Edward 
Murphy,  of  Troy,  who  represented  collars  and  cuffs,  and 
who  had  been  elected  Senator  against  The  Worlds  pro- 
tests for  his  services  as  a  collector  of  campaign  funds. 

A  long  deadlock  ensued.  The  World,  seeing  how  the 
political  tide  was  running  against  the  party,  advised  that 
"When  the  Democrats  of  the  House  are  satisfied  that  it 


98  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

is  'the  Senate  bill  or  nothing7  they  should  agree  to  the 
Senate  bill  and  end  the  contest." 

This  view  was  taken.  The  conference  bill  was  passed 
upon  Gorman  lines,  and  President  Cleveland  contemptu- 
ously allowed  it  to  become  a  law  without  his  signa- 
ture. Though  he  branded  its  treatment  in  the  Senate  as 
"  party  perfidy  and  dishonor/7  and  wrote  to  Representa- 
tive Catchings,  of  Mississippi,  that  the  "  livery  of  Demo- 
cratic reform  has  been  stolen  and  worn  in  the  service  of 
Republican  protection,"  he  considered  it  far  better  than 
the  McKinley  Act.  The  World  also  found  it  "a  vast 
improvement  in  most  particulars  upon  the  McKinley 
law,"  and  vainly  hoped  it  would  "give  the  country  tem- 
porary peace  at  least." 

In  the  thick  of  the  tariff  fight  occurred  the  campaign 
of  1893,  an  off-year,  but  distinguished  in  New  York  State 
by  an  exhibition  of  independence  which  showed  how  The 
World's  doctrine  of  revolt  against  bossism  had  gained  in 
ten  years.  In  winning  his  own  senatorship  and  providing 
an  echo  in  Edward  Murphy,  Hill  had  stepped  down  from 
his  vantage  as  state  leader,  and  had  formed  with  Boss 
Richard  Croker  of  New  York,  Boss  Hugh  McLaughlin 
of  Brooklyn,  and  Boss  William  F.  Sheehan  of  Buffalo  a 
" big-four"  combination.  One  of  its  fruits  was  the  nomi- 
nation in  1893  of  Isaac  H.  Maynard  as  Judge  of  the 
Court  of  Appeals. 

Maynard  had  been  guilty  of  a  political  trick  for  the 
benefit  of  his  party  machine  which  the  bosses  thought 
worthy  of  reward,  but  which  the  State  Bar  Association 
pointed  out  was  frowned  upon  by  the  penal  code.  The 
World  made  a  hot  campaign  against  Maynard  and  saw 
him  beaten  by  one  hundred  and  one  thousand  votes. 
Everything  favored  the  revolution.  The  Legislature 
had  made  a  bad  record.  Murphy's  election  had  dis- 
gusted the  people.  At  Sheehan's  behest  " ripper"  bills 
had  been  passed  to  enhance  his  power  over  Buffalo  which 


REACTION  99 

so  angered  the  people  that  his  ticket  was  beaten  by 
twelve  thousand  votes  and  the  bills  had  to  be  repealed. 
And  just  before  election  the  famous  war  of  John  Y. 
McKane,  of  Gravesend,  against  the  courts  turned  Brook- 
lyn from  a  Democratic  to  a  Republican  city,  replaced 
Boody  by  Schieren  as  Mayor,  and  affected  many  votes 
elsewhere. 

Gravesend  had  been  laid  out  by  Lady  Deborah  Moody, 
a  royal  grantee  of  early  days,  with  radiating  streets  and 
farm  lines  to  facilitate  access  and  defense  against  Indians. 
Four  central  blocks  contained  the  church,  the  school,  the 
fold  for  cattle  at  night,  and  the  houses  of  the  forty  farmers, 
each  of  whom  could  go  upon  his  own  land  from  the  in- 
closing village  road.  Traces  of  the  Moody  street-plan 
are  still  visible  about  the  site  of  the  town-hall  where 
McKane,  builder  by  profession,  Sunday-school  superin- 
tendent, austere,  and  careful  of  speech,  pursued  his  career 
of  crime. 

Coney  Island  had  been  reserved  by  Lady  Deborah  as 
common  lands,  but  the  town  officials  were  not  prevented 
from  alienating  it,  and  the  sale  and  lease  of  these  lands 
provided  the  means  of  political  debauchment,  while  semi- 
nomadic  stable-boys,  barkeepers,  and  other  handy  fellows 
furnished  McKane's  guerrillas.  All  the  election  districts 
voted  in  the  town-hall,  Lady  Deborah's  concentric  plan 
favoring  this  convenience.  In  1890  Gravesend  had  8,414 
inhabitants.  It  cast  in  1892  3,286  votes.  In  1893 
it  registered  6,218  names  —  a  warning  of  fraud  which 
stirred  reformers  to  action.  In  this  campaign  William 
J.  Gaynor,  then  a  young  attorney  of  Brooklyn,  was  con- 
spicuous. Of  him  The  World  said,  on  November  21st: 
"Mr.  Gaynor,  of  Brooklyn,  goes  to  work  in  the  right 
way.  He  has  procured  a  copy  of  the  registration  lists  of 
Gravesend.  He  has  employed  men  to  inspect  every 
doubtful  case,  and  in  every  instance  of  apparent  false 
registration  he  will  ask  the  Supreme  Court  to  cancel 


100  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

it."     What  happened  to  the  men  from  Brooklyn  is  thus 
told  in  a  World  editorial: 

John  Y.  McKane  and  his  heelers  have  taken  the  law  into 
their  own  hands  and  done  what  they  pleased  with  it.  They 
have  defied  the  peremptory  writs  of  the  Supreme  Court.  They 
have  seized  peaceable  citizens,  engaged  in  executing  a  court 
order,  taken  their  property  from  their  persons,  and  lodged  them 
in  jail. 

A  judicial  officer  under  McKane's  control  has  refused  bail 
for  these  men  as  if  they  were  accused  of  murder,  and  locked 
them  up  with  as  high-handed  a  disregard  of  law  as  any  agent 
of  the  Russian  Third  Section  ever  showed. 

Yet  so  silly  was  the  Democratic  ring  that  even  after 
the  election,  when  McKane  was  under  sentence  of  thirty 
days  and  under  eleven  indictments  which  were  to  land  him 
in  Sing  Sing,  the  board  of  supervisors  elected  him  presi- 
dent. The  district  attorney,  James  W.  Ridgway,  having 
no  stomach  for  trying  McKane,  Governor  Flower  named 
the  late  Edward  M.  Shepard  and  George  C.  Reynolds  as 
special  deputies  of  the  Attorney-General. 

Far  out  of  proportion  to  the  size  of  his  district  McKane 
made  political  history.  In  comment  upon  him  and  the 
fall  of  Maynard  The  World  summed  up  its  philosophy: 
"  Discipline  is  as  necessary  to  parties  as  to  individuals. 
The  Democratic  leaders  of  New  York  invited  it.  It  is 
to  be  hoped  that  they  will  profit  by  it." 

For  1894  Democratic  prospects  were  unfavorable. 
"No  party,"  as  The  World  pointed  out,  "has  ever  won  on 
a  general  revision  of  the  tariff,  taking  effect  shortly  before 
the  election.  The  country  feels  the  evil  effects  of  uncer- 
tainty without  time  to  get  the  good  results  of  the  change." 

Yet  Senator  Hill  took  this  unpromising  occasion  to 
tempt  fate  by  running  again  for  Governor.  Admiration 
was  compelled  by  his  courage  in  facing  such  chances  of 
defeat.  The  World  sought  to  be  fair  to  Senator  Hill. 


REACTION-  .101 

"He  has  had,"  it  said,  " eight  years'  experience  as  Gov- 
ernor, and,  whatever  his  methods,  he  made  surprisingly 
few  serious  mistakes  in  that  office.  When  Hill  was 
Governor  he  was  the  master  of  the  lesser  bosses,  not  their 
tool,  as  Flower  has  been.  There  were  no  extravagant  or 
corrupt  appropriations,  no  Huckleberry  jobs  [referring  to 
the  street-railway  franchises  in  the  Bronx  region]  or 
Sheehanized  encroachments  on  local  self-government  un- 
der his  rule.  Though  a  strict  and  not  overscrupulous 
partisan,  his  administration  was  clean." 

Never  were  circumstances  more  untoward  for  a  party. 
In  July  of  that  terrible  year  the  great  railroad  strike, 
originating  in  Pullman,  Illinois,  had  paralyzed  the  trans- 
portation service  of  the  country,  blocked  commerce,  and 
threatened  wholesale  destruction  of  property.  The  pas- 
sage of  the  mails  was  interrupted,  and  the  President 
called  out  federal  troops  to  guard  communications  so 
that  they  might  be  moved.  This  act  won  for  him  the 
hatred  of  many  labor-union  men  and  is  still  remem- 
bered with  bitterness.  An  incident  of  the  strike  of  lasting 
importance  was  the  arrest  and  imprisonment  of  Eugene 
V.  Debs  for  violation  of  an  injunction  of  a  federal  court, 
forbidding  him  to  interfere  with  interstate  traffic.  This 
was  the  real  beginning  of  the  "government  by  injunction" 
issue  and,  more  remotely,  of  the  movement  to  exempt 
labor-unions  and  combinations  of  farmers  and  planters 
from  the  enforcement  of  the  Anti-trust  Act.  It  made 
Mr.  Debs  the  candidate  of  the  Socialist  party  for  Presi- 
dent in  four  successive  elections  from  1900  to  1912. 

For  Mr.  Cleveland's  resolute  courage  in  this  anxious  time 
The  World  had  only  praise,  as  when  on  July  9th  it  said: 

The  World  appeals  to  the  reason  of  the  working-men.  It 
asks  them  what  just  cause  of  offense  it  is  to  them  that  the 
Federal  arid  State  troops  are  employed  to  sustain  the  law,  to 
guard  property  against  destruction,  to  protect  commerce  and 

the  mails? 


102  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

Whom  are  the  troops  opposing?  Whom  are  they  "  oppress- 
ing?" 

Somebody  is  preventing  interstate  commerce.  Somebody  is 
hindering  the  transit  of  mails.  Somebody  is  destroying  prop- 
erty. Somebody  is  assaulting  and  killing  the  officers  of  the  law. 

These  men  the  troops  are  called  upon  to  deal  with.  If  there 
are  no  strikers  among  the  rioters  no  strikers  will  be  killed  or 
wounded  when  the  soldiers  shoot. 

The  soldiers  are  citizens.  They  seek  to  oppress  no  one. 
They  compel  no  man  to  work  against  his  will.  They  seek 
only  to  protect  men  in  their  natural,  necessary,  and  inalienable 
right  to  work. 

What  grievance  is  there  for  honest  laborers  in  this? 

The  panic  and  a  currency  famine  in  1893;  strikes  that 
called  for  federal  troops  in  1894;  Tammany  relapsed  into 
corruption;  Coxey's  army  marching  on  Washington  to 
demand  living  conditions  for  poor  men;  other  armies  of 
unemployed  not  much  less  ragged,  freighted  thither  in 
special  trains  by  Republican  committees  to  annoy  the 
Administration;  a  new  tariff  law  that  pleased  neither 
friend  nor  foe — here  were  conditions  more  unfavorable  to 
the  party  in  power  than  had  existed  since  the  Civil  War. 
What  chance  was  there  of  Democratic  success? 

To  meet  Hill,  victorious  veteran  of  a  dozen  battles,  man 
of  personal  reputation  untainted,  master  of  arts  political, 
the  Republicans  nominated  Levi  P.  Morton.  The  World 
supported  Hill.  He  was,  upon  the  record,  a  better  can- 
didate than  Morton.  The  party  had  suffered  by  his 
absence  from  Albany.  But  he  had  earned  the  hostility 
of  the  Cleveland  wing  of  the  party,  first,  in  being  elected 
Governor  in  1888  when  Cleveland  failed  to  carry  the 
state,  which  to  many  argued  treachery;  again  in  the 
Maynard  nomination;  more  recently  in  engineering  the 
refusal  of  the  Senate  to  confirm  the  successive  nominations 
of  William  B.  Hornblower  and  Wheeler  H.  Peckham  to 
the  Supreme  Court  bench  because  they  had  opposed 


REACTION  103 

Maynard  and  because  Mr.  Hill  had  resented  the  Presi- 
dent's failure  to  consult  him  upon  the  appointments  as 
a  breach  of  "  Senatorial  courtesy." 

In  the  local  field  The  World  fought  an  unrepentant 
Tammany;  and  the  appalling  discoveries  of  the  Lexow 
committee  investigating  police  conditions  furnished  the 
issue.  Warned  of  hard  going,  Tammany  sought  to  run 
Nathan  Straus  for  Mayor,  and  upon  his  refusal  again 
nominated  Hugh  Grant.  The  Republicans,  fusing  with 
disgusted  Democrats,  named  William  L.  Strong,  whom 
The  World  supported. 

The  result  of  the  1894  election  was  an  almost  unparal- 
leled Democratic  disaster.  Hill,  the  invulnerable,  was 
beaten  by  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  thousand  votes  by 
Morton.  The  country  emphatically  repudiated  the  tariff 
policy  of  the  administration  and  rejected  the  Wilson  bill. 
Mr.  Wilson  himself,  its  author,  was  not  to  sit  in  the 
House  of  Representatives;  he  was  beaten  in  his  own 
district,  as  the  author  of  the  McKinley  bill  had  been  in 
Ohio  in  1890.  A  Democratic  majority  of  eighty  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  was  replaced  by  a  Republican 
majority  of  nearly  one  hundred  and  forty,  outnumbering 
the  Democrats  nearly  two  to  one.  In  the  Senate  the  Re- 
publicans, with  the  tariff  Populists,  had  a  safe  majority. 
But  for  a  Presidential  veto  the  path  was  clear  for  their 
repeal  of  the  Wilson  bill  and  for  the  enactment  of  a 
new  high-tariff  measure.  They  could  claim  with  justice 
that  they,  and  not  the  President,  had  the  mandate  of  the 
people. 

One  gratifying  result  of  the  election  was  the  success  of 
Mr.  Strong  in  New  York,  an  early  and  emphatic  notice 
to  bosses  that  the  citizens  of  the  metropolis  would  assert 
their  independence  at  the  polls.  Mayor  Strong's  term  is 
remembered  gratefully  for  some  reforms,  especially  for  an 
improvement  in  the  personnel  of  the  police  magistrates 
under  a  new  appointive  law  passed  after  the  Lexow  report, 


104  THE    STORY    OF   A   PAGE 

and  for  the  appointment  as  Street  Cleaning  Commis- 
sioner of  George  E.  Waring,  Jr.,  a  competent  civil  engi- 
neer, whose  management  of  that  previously  neglected 
service  astounded  New  York  by  its  efficiency  and  set 
new  standards  for  the  future. 

The  World  had  come  through  the  panic  years  with  its 
material  success  unimpaired  and  its  circulation  greatly 
augmented,  but  upon  the  spectacle  of  ruined  Democratic 
hopes  it  gazed  with  sorrow,  and  upon  the  new  menace  of 
silver  agitation  it  turned  with  instant  appreciation  of  a 
national  danger.  The  only  hope  of  staving  off  disaster 
was  delay  until  financial  conditions  should  improve. 
To  this  end  The  World  favored  another  international 
monetary  conference,  as  Arthur  Balfour,  the  new  British 
Premier,  was  a  bimetallist.  It  was  not  averse  to  the 
coinage  of  silver  at  a  true  ratio  with  gold  if  all  the  nations 
were  agreed — an  impossible  condition.  It  was  not  averse 
to  any  proposal  that  should  avert  or  postpone  the  ca- 
lamity of  the  United  States  undertaking  alone  to  buy 
all  the  silver  in  the  world  at  more  than  its  value. 

The  outbreak  of  the  China-Japan  war  in  the  closing 
months  of  1894  gave  The  World  an  opportunity  to  enforce 
its  doctrine  of  international  peace.  It  was  quick  to  recog- 
nize (March  11,  1895)  that  "This  war  has  added  another 
to  the  great  powers  on  land  and  sea.  There  is  reason  to 
hope  that  it  has  also  added  another  to  the  great  progres- 
sive, intellectual,  and  achieving  nations,  alert  to  push 
humanity  forward,"  and  its  sympathy  with  Japan  when 
robbed  of  the  fruits  of  its  victory  by  the  greed  of  Russia 
was  pronounced. 

From  the  first  week  of  its  new  management  The  World, 
practically  alone  among  journals  of  consequence  in  the 
East,  had  advocated  the  income  tax.  Its  triumph  in 
securing  the  income-tax  provisions  in  the  Wilson  law  was 
short-lived.  In  the  spring  of  1895  the  tax  came  before 
the  Supreme  Court.  The  stumbling-block  was  the  con- 


REACTION  105 

stitutional  provision  against  direct  taxation  except  when 
apportioned  among  the  states  according  to  population; 
and  Joseph  H.  Choate  in  opposing  the  law  made  skilful 
use  of  this  argument.  The  World  showed  that  the  direct- 
tax  clause  "was  adopted  solely  as  a  part  of  the  compro- 
mise with  slavery  for  the  sake  of  securing  the  union  of 
the  States.  All  the  conditions  it  was  intended  to  meet 
have  passed  utterly  away/'  and  argued  that  "It  is  time 
to  free  the  country  from  the  mortmain  grasp  of  the  old 
dead  slavery  issue."  It  protested  against  the  plea  that 
New  York  and  Pennsylvania  would  pay  more  than  their 
share  of  the  new  tax.  Was  it  not  right  that  they  should 
pay,  when  the  corporate  wealth  of  the  nation  was  so 
largely  concentrated  in  these  states?  Thus  it  traversed 
in  advance  the  lines  that  Senator  Root  followed  in  1910 
when  repelling  the  idea  that  New  York  should  object  to 
paying  a  tax  on  wealth  because  some  New  York  men 
were  wealthy. 

A  decision  by  eight  judges  declared  a  portion  of  the  law 
invalid  in  so  far  as  it  imposed  a  tax  upon  the  income  from 
real  estate,  which  was  held  to  be  a  direct  tax.  The 
court  was  divided  and  inconclusive  as  to  the  constitu- 
tionality of  further  sections.  Because  of  this  inconclusive 
result,  and  because  Associate  Justice  Jackson  was  ill  and 
absent,  the  case  was  again  heard  by  the  full  bench,  and, 
by  five  voices  to  four,  decision  was  rendered  on  May  20th 
that  "the  tax  imposed  by  sections  27  to  37,  inclusive, 
of  the  act  of  1894,  so  far  as  it  falls  on  the  income  of  real 
estate  and  of  personal  property,  being  a  direct  tax  within 
the  meaning  of  the  Constitution,  ...  all  those  sections 
constituting  an  entire  scheme  of  taxation  are  necessarily 
invalid." 

The  manner  of  the  rendering  of  the  decision  was  most 
unfortunate.  Justice  Jackson,  as  anticipated,  sustained 
the  law.  Justice  Harlan  delivered  the  minority  opinion 
with  a  fervor  of  eloquence  not  often  heard  in  the  Supreme 

8 


106  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

Court  chamber,  characterizing  the  view  of  the  majority 
as  a  "  disaster  to  the  country. "  But  in  the  interval 
between  the  two  decisions  Justice  Shiras  had  changed  his 
opinion.  This  shifted  vote  of  a  single  man  decided  the 
action  of  the  government  upon  the  income  tax  for  almost 
twenty  years.  Nothing  in  recent  times  has  done  so  much 
to  weaken  respect  for  the  courts  as  did  this  disastrous 
outcome.  Practically  all  the  Eastern  newspapers  rejoiced 
in  the  decision.  The  World  in  deploring  the  result  had 
some  difficulty  in  showing  respect  for  the  high  courts  of 
the  country: 

The  overthrow  of  the  income  tax  is  the  triumph  of  selfishness 
over  patriotism.  It  is  another  victory  of  greed  over  need. 
Great  and  rich  corporations,  by  hiring  the  ablest  lawyers  in 
the  land  and  fighting  against  a  petty  tax  upon  superfluity  as 
other  men  have  fought  for  their  liberties  and  their  lives,  have 
secured  the  exemption  of  wealth  from  paying  its  just  share 
toward  the  support  of  the  Government  that  protects  it. 

In  accomplishing  this  they  have  obtained  from  the  Supreme 
Court  a  reversal  of  its  decisions  for  thirty  years  past.  More 
than  that,  they  have  persuaded  one  of  the  judges  to  reconsider 
and  reverse  his  own  opinion  of  a  month  ago. 

No  dictum  or  decision  of  any  court  can  make  wrong  right. 
And  it  is  not  right  that  the  entire  cost  of  the  Federal  Government 
shall  rest  upon  consumption.  It  is  not  right  that  wealth  shall 
pay  no  more  than  poverty  toward  the  support  of  the  national 
administration.  .  .  . 

The  decision  leaves  it  doubtful  if  any  income  tax  can  stand 
before  the  court  as  it  is  now  constituted  that  is  not  apportioned 
among  the  States  in  accordance  with  an  obsolete  provision 
as  to  population  which  was  adopted  as  one  of  the  compromises 
with  slavery. 

Such  a  law  would  be  too  unequal  to  be  considered.  But  a 
way  will  be  found — and  the  jubilant  plutocrats  and  smiling 
tax-dodgers  may  as  well  prepare  for  it — a  way  will  be  found  to 
revoke  what  Justice  Brown  well  calls  this  "  surrender  of  the 
taxing  power  to  the  moneyed  class."  This  country  will  not, 


REACTION  107 

again  in  the  indignant  words  of  the  dissenting  judge,  consent 
to  "the  submergence  of  the  liberties  of  the  people  in  a  sordid 
despotism  of  wealth." 

Twenty  years  after  the  great  victory  of  1892  The 
World,  replying  to  Henry  Watterson's  dispraise  of  Grover 
Cleveland's  moderate  policy  upon  the  tariff,  compressed 
into  a  piquant  paragraph  a  description  of  the  calamity 
that  struck  the  Democratic  party,  and  with  it  and  through 
it  the  country,  in  that  disheartening  time: 

Marse  Henry  holds  up  his  hands  in  horror  at  our  reference 
to  Grover  Cleveland's  letter  of  acceptance  in  1892,  and  screams 
that  because  of  it  "the  whole  ship's  crew  of  us  went  to  hell 
in  a  hand-basket."  Something  of  that  sort  took  place,  although 
we  are  not  so  certain  about  the  vehicle,  but  the  editor  of  the 
Courier- Journal  is  quite  mistaken  as  to  the  causes.  If  the 
Democrats  in  1893  had  made  an  honest,  intelligent  downward 
revision  of  the  McKinley  Act  the  country  would  have  sustained 
them.  But  they  jobbed  it,  they  were  trapped  in  a  disgusting 
Sugar  Trust  scandal,  their  own  President  refused  to  sign  their 
tariff  bill  because  of  its  "party  perfidy  and  dishonor,"  their 
income-tax  provision  was  upset  by  the  Supreme  Court,  the 
Cleveland  administration  had  a  deficit  to  deal  with,  crops  were 
bad,  the  silver  issue  bedeviled  the  whole  economic  situation, 
the  secret  bond  sales  made  a  bad  matter  infinitely  worse — 
and  that  is  why  "the  whole  ship's  crew  of  us"  landed  where 
we  did. 

An  income -tax -amendment  resolution,  passed  by  a 
Republican  Congress  with  Democratic  help  and  urged 
by  a  Republican  President,  is  now  ratified  by  the  states. 
The  country  is  awake  to  the  redress  of  tariff  excesses  as 
one  means  of  halting  the  increase  in  the  cost  of  living. 
It  is  resolute  in  its  determination  to  deal  with  the  problems 
raised  by  the  trusts.  The  World's  battle  has  not  been 
without  result. 

One  regrettable  result  of  the  Lexow  investigation  had 


108  THE    STORY    OF   A   PAGE 

been  the  passage  of  a  bi-partisan  or,  more  accurately,  bi- 
boss  police  bill.  Mayor  Strong  drafted  Theodore  Roose- 
velt from  the  Civil  Service  Commission  and  placed  him 
upon  the  police  board,  with  which  he  ran  away.  Setting 
out  with  the  purpose  of  enforcing  the  excise  law,  he  began 
a  series  of  Harun-al-Rashid  raids,  which  made  him  the 
terror  not  more  of  evil-doers  than  of  peaceable  pinochle- 
players  in  saloon  back  rooms.  If  the  city  could  have 
voted  upon  the  Sunday  laws  there  is  no  doubt  how  it  would 
have  voted  then  or  later.  The  law  was  retained  because 
to  the  city  boss  it  was  a  source  of  illegitimate  profit 
through  the  sale  of  privileges  to  break  it,  while  upon  the 
strength  of  it  the  sympathetic  country  boss  could  appeal 
to  no-license  men  within  the  party.  Said  The  World, 
therefore,  to  Theodore  Roosevelt,  president  of  the  Police 
Board  of  New  York  City: 

When  you  say  that  you  seek  by  the  obnoxious  enforcement 
of  this  law  to  secure  its  repeal,  are  you  not  indulging  in  self- 
deception?  You  know  that  the  people  who  are  wronged  and 
oppressed  by  your  proceedings  have  no  power  to  repeal  the  law. 
You  know  that  those  who  have  such  power  are  in  no  way  an- 
noyed by  your  nagging  and  exasperating  activity  in  preventing 
the  hard-working  laborer  from  getting  a  pitcher  of  beer  for  his 
Sunday  dinner. 

Your  course  advertises  yourself,  Mr.  Roosevelt,  as  effectively 
as  if  you  were  a  brand  of  soap.  But  does  it  do  any  good? 
Is  it  wise?  Does  it  commend  " reform"  to  have  the  innocent 
annoyed  in  its  name  while  crime  runs  riot  and  criminals  go 
free? 

In  spite  of  all  disadvantages  The  World  was  not  without 
hope  that  the  Democrats  might  reclaim  the  state  in  No- 
vember, 1 895.  ' '  The  Legislature, ' '  it  said, ' '  is  extravagant, 
corrupt,  subservient.  It  has  surrendered  to  one  boss, 
while  the  Democrats  had  four  or  more.  Hunger  for  spoils 
dominates  everything."  Platt  was  for  the  moment  a 


REACTION 

worse  boss  than  the  state  had  seen  since  Tweed,  domi- 
nating his  party,  in  league  with  corrupt  finance,  ever 
ready  to  "deal"  with  Tammany.  But  his  time  was  not 
come.  The  state  went  Republican  again  that  year  by 
ninety  thousand.  Hard  times  were  still  pressing  upon 
the  party  in  power  as  they  had  done  in  the  de*b&cle  of 
1894.  In  New  York  City  Tammany  won  a  series  of 
local  offices  of  small  importance  chiefly  upon  the  issue 
of  Roosevelt  and  beer.  The  better  administration  Strong 
was  giving  the  city  went  for  naught.  "The  reactionary 
result  was  provoked  by  the  pig-headed  folly  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Police  Board. "  Reform  defeated  reforms. 


IX 

VENEZUELA 

1895 

The  Romance  of  a  Young  Explorer — Schomburgk's  Line — Disputed  Ven- 
ezuelan Boundary  Becomes  Disquieting  in  1895 — Grover  Cleveland's  Mes- 
sage Threatening  Great  Britain — War  Measures  Passed  by  Congress — 
The  Belligerent  American  Press— •"  The  World's"  Opposition— Its  Christ- 
mas Messages  of  Good-Will  from  Abroad — Mr.  Olney  and  Senator  Lodge 
as  Jingoes — How  the  Trouble  Was  Settled — Presentation  of  an  Address 
to  Mr.  Pulitzer  in  England — His  Eloquent  Response. 

ROBERT  SCHOMBURGK,  a  youth  of  twenty-four  years, 
landed  in  Virginia  in  1828  as  supercargo  of  a  flock  of 
merino  sheep. 

The  son  of  a  Saxon  clergyman,  he  had  been  trained  to 
commerce,  but  took  a  livelier  interest  in  science  and 
philanthropy.  After  hours  in  the  Richmond  counting- 
house  where  he  found  brief  employment  he  scoured  the 
neighborhood  for  botanical  specimens.  At  the  local  slave- 
mart  he  learned  to  hold  slavery  in  deep  detestation. 

The  following  year  found  Schomburgk  at  St.  Thomas, 
West  Indies.  At  Anegada  Island  one  day  he  saw  through 
the  clear  water  the  sharks  nuzzling  out  from  the  'tween- 
decks  of  a  slaver  on  the  reefs  the  bodies  of  negroes  from 
Africa  who  had  gone  down  with  her.  The  sight  stirred 
him  deeply,  and  he  spent  three  months  in  charting  reefs 
and  currents;  once  nearly  killed  by  a  wrecker  with  whose 
trade  he  was  interfering. 

The  charts,  sent  to  the  Royal  Geographical  Society  in 
London,  and  some  notes  upon  plants  and  fishes,  won 


VENEZUELA  111 

Schomburgk  in  1835  the  command  of  an  exploring  expedi- 
tion in  British  Guiana.  He  found  the  famous  urari 
poison,  Strichnos  Toxifera,  Schomb.j  and  "  Schomburgk's 
four-cornered  fish";  he  found  also,  at  the  falls  of  the 
Berbice,  a  great  water-lily  which  he  later  named  after 
the  young  queen,  the  Victoria  Regia. 

What  was  sixty  years  later  to  make  Sir  Robert  Schom- 
burgk's  name  a  war-cry  was  the  map  in  the  account  of  his 
travels  published  in  London,  May,  1840.  This  showed 
the  boundary  line  between  Venezuela  and  British  Guiana, 
as  claimed  by  the  latter,  running  up  the  Amaruru,  or 
Amacuro,  River  and  its  small  branch,  the  Cuyuni,  to  the 
eighth  parallel,  and  thence  across  country  to  Brazil.  The 
line  claimed  by  Venezuela,  as  mapped  by  Schomburgk, 
followed  the  Maroco  and  Essequibo  rivers.  But  Schom- 
burgk's  map  was  quite  inaccurate  as  to  natural  details. 

Venezuela  drew  title  from  the  Spanish  conquest; 
British  Guiana  succeeded  to  Holland's.  Neither  old  nor 
new  owners  had  fixed  the  boundary.  British  Guiana  had 
freed  her  slaves  in  1838,  but  the  slave-trade  still  flourished ; 
and,  as  it  was  Schomburgk's  dream  to  see  free  British 
colonies  in  America  fostered  to  offset  the  slave-holding 
United  States,  he  urged  the  survey  of  the  Guiana  bound- 
ary by  a  joint  commission  and  energetic  colonization. 
The  British  cabinet  thought  it  better  to  map  the  bound- 
ary first  and  consult  Venezuela  afterward,  and  sent 
Schomburgk  in  1841  to  survey  the  line,  which  was  found 
for  physical  reasons  impossible. 

Venezuela  never  accepted  the  Schomburgk  line.  In 
April,  1895,  Venezuelan  authorities  arrested  two  British 
inspectors  of  police  for  acting  on  Venezuelan  soil  in  the 
valley  of  the  Cuyuwini  or  greater  Cuyuni  River,  a  branch 
of  the  Essequibo.  The  men  were  released  under  British 
pressure.  Friction  increased  between  the  big  and  the  little 
power.  President  Crespo  begged  the  American  Adminis- 
tration to  help  Venezuela;  Minister  Andrade  in  Washing- 


112  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

ton  cited  the  Monroe  doctrine  against  British  aggression, 
and  the  Venezuelan  question  became  pressing,  but  no  one 
looked  for  serious  trouble. 

Then  came  Grover  Cleveland's  famous  message  on 
December  18,  1895,  espousing  the  Venezuelan  cause, 
asking  for  an  American  commission  to  "  determine  the 
true  divisional  line,"  and  proclaiming  that  the  threatening 
attitude  of  Great  Britain  toward  a  South  American  state 
was  a  menace  to  the  " peace  and  safety"  of  the  United 
States  and  to  "the  integrity  of  our  free  institutions." 

The  British  had  a  poor  case.  The  Salisbury  claim  of 
1890  went  far  beyond  the  Schomburgk  line,  which  had 
been  practically  accepted  by  the  Aberdeen  ministry,  and 
took  in  the  entire  watershed  of  the  greater  Cuyuni  River. 
Even  the  original  Schomburgk  line  crossed  the  Cuyuni 
twenty  miles  west  of  the  Dutch  boundary  fort,  to  which 
the  English  had  succeeded.  But  the  difference  was  cer- 
tainly not  worth  fighting  about. 

Eighteen  years  after  the  event  it  is  hard  to  realize 
that  the  two  English-speaking  nations  were  at  the  verge 
of  war  over  a  bit  of  equatorial  back  country  where  white 
men  cannot  live.  It  was  a  time  of  much  agitation  over 
Irish  Home  Rule,  and  Irish  sympathizers  in  the  United 
States  burned  to  seize  every  occasion  for  "twisting  the 
lion's  tail."  American  jingoes  cried  for  war.  The  jingoes 
of  England  refused  to  be  outshrieked;  moderate  men 
feared  that  war  was  inevitable,  and  hostile  preparations 
were  pushed. 

The  House  of  Representatives  passed  by  unanimous 
vote  the  Hitt  resolution  authorizing  a  boundary  com- 
mission and  appropriating  one  hundred  thousand  dollars 
for  its  expenses.  Although  a  commission  in  whose  doings 
Great  Britain  was  not  consulted  was  as  preposterous  as 
had  been  the  mapping  of  the  Schomburgk  line  without 
consulting  Venezuela,  the  shrewd  lawyers  of  the  Senate 
made  no  effort  to  stem  the  tide  of  jingoism.  Prevented 


VENEZUELA  113 

for  one  day  by  the  objection  of  Senator  Allen,  of  Nebraska, 
from  proceeding  to  the  second  reading  of  the  Hitt  resolu- 
tion, the  Senate  passed  it  unanimously  on  Saturday,  the 
22d  of  December.  Mr.  Cleveland  signed  it  the  same  day. 

All  that  week  ruled  indescribable  tumult.  The  Presi- 
dent's message  was  read  in  schools.  Old  soldiers  proffered 
their  services.  In  Wall  Street,  in  spite  of  a  panic  that  sent 
quotations  tumbling  from  ten  to  twenty-five  points  and 
caused  the  failure  of  several  firms,  the  war  sentiment 
was  so  unanimous  that  Charles  Stewart  Smith  could  not 
secure  ten  signatures  to  call  a  Chamber  of  Commerce 
meeting  to  deprecate  the  reign  of  unreason. 

Almost  without  conspicuous  exception  the  American 
press  upheld  Mr.  Cleveland  in  having  used  the  language 
of  threat.  The  Sun  branded  as  "an  alien  or  a  traitor" 
"any  American  citizen,  whether  inside  or  outside  of 
Congress,  who  hesitates  at  this  conjuncture  to  uphold 
the  President  of  the  United  States."  "Not  an  hour 
should  be  lost,"  it  said,  "in  making  ready  for  any  duty  that 
may  come  upon  the  country."  On  the  day  following  the 
Cleveland  message  The  Sun  thus  urged  the  making  of 
allies : 

It  will  be  the  fault  of  our  State  Department — and  we  do  not  believe 
that  Mr.  Richard  Olney  will  omit  any  precaution  at  this  crisis — if 
such  an  understanding  is  not  betimes  arrived  at  with  the  Court  of  St. 
Petersburg  and  the  French  Republic  as  will  assure  to  us  the  co- 
operation of  the  French  and  Russian  navies  in  the  event  of  war.  It 
should  be  the  aim  of  American  diplomacy  to  see  to  it  that  of  the 
naval  battles,  which  the  British  government  no  doubt  imagines 
would  be  confined  to  American  waters,  some  at  least  should  be  fought 
in  the  British  Channel  and  the  Irish  Sea. 

The  Sun  was  not  alone  in  inviting  war.  Apropos  the 
pacific  efforts  of  Mr.  Smith  and  others,  The  New  York 
Times  said: 

Under  the  teaching  of  these  bloodless  Philistines,  these  patriots  of 
the  ticker,  if  they  were  heeded,  American  civilization  would  degenerate 


114  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

to  the  level  of  the  Digger  Indians,  who  eat  dirt  all  their  lives  and 
appear  to  like  it.  We  should  become  a  nation  of  hucksters,  flabby  in 
spirit,  flabby  in  muscle,  flabby  in  principle,  and  devoid  of  honor,  for 
it  is  always  a  characteristic  of  the  weak  and  cowardly  to  try  to  make 
up  by  craft  and  trickery  for  their  defect  of  noble  qualities. 

The  Tribune  said  that: 

The  message  will  not  be  welcome  to  the  peace-at-any-price  cuckoos 
who  have  been  clamoring  that  the  Monroe  doctrine  is  a  myth,  and 
that  we  have  no  business  to  meddle  with  affairs  between  Great  Britain 
and  Venezuela. 

To  the  chorus  of  war  provocatives  The  Evening  Post 
opposed  a  corrective  common  sense;  The  Herald  urged 
"the  desirability  of  international  arbitration." 

Taking  vigorously  the  side  of  peace  in  the  controversy, 
The  World  said  in  its  article,  "No  Cause  of  War,"  on 
December  21st: 

The  President  justified  his  proposed  enforcement  of  what  he 
mistakenly  regarded  as  the  Monroe  doctrine  on  the  ground 
that  it  is  "  important  to  our  peace  and  safety  as  a  nation,  and 
is  essential  to  the  integrity  of  our  free  institutions  and  the 
tranquil  maintenance  of  our  distinctive  form  of  government." 

Is  this  true?  Does  any  possible  divisional  line  between 
Venezuela  and  British  Guiana  hold  a  menace  to  "our  peace 
and  safety  as  a  nation"?  Is  the  integrity  of  Venezuela  "essen- 
tial to  the  integrity  of  our  free  institutions?"  Does  the  deter- 
mination of  a  boundary  line  in  South  America  threaten  "the 
tranquil  maintenance  of  our  distinctive  form  of  government"? 

Merely  to  ask  these  questions  is  to  expose  the  utterly  and 
preposterously  inadequate  basis  of  the  war-threat  which  the 
President  has  fulminated.  It  is  an  insult  to  the  understanding 
of  an  intelligent  American  school-child.  There  is  not  a  hot- 
head among  all  the  jingoes  who  does  not  know  that  England 
is  more  likely  to  become  a  republic  than  the  United  States  are 
to  revert  to  monarchism.  The  entire  trend  of  government 
for  the  past  fifty  years  has  been  toward  democracy.  Witness 
republican  France,  Mexico  and  Brazil.  Note  the  evolution 


VENEZUELA  115 

of  republics  from  the  warring  despotisms  of  Central  and  South 
America.  Observe  the  working  of  the  leaven  of  democracy  in 
England,  and  even  in  Germany.  .  .  . 

The  reasons  urged  for  the  forcible  application  of  a  false 
Monroe  doctrine  in  the  Venezuela  case  therefore  fall  to  pieces 
at  a  touch.  There  is  no  substance  to  them.  There  is  no  menace 
in  the  boundary  line.  It  is  not  our  frontier.  It  is  none  of  our 
business.  To  make  it  such  without  cause,  and  to  raise  the 
specter  of  war  over  a  false  sentiment  and  a  false  conception, 
is  something  more  than  "a  grave  blunder."  If  persisted  in 
it  will  be  a  colossal  crime. 

From  the  appeal  of  common  sense  to  the  appeal  of 
common  sentiment  was  a  quick  transition.  In  its 
Sunday  editorial  review  of  the  relapse  into  barbarism 
The  World  said,  under  the  head-line  "Peace  on  Earth": 

During  this  week  the  American  people  are  to  celebrate  their 
annual  social  and  fraternal  holiday.  .  .  .  From  rich  to  poor 
we  have  all  agreed  that  its  appropriate  motto  shall  be  that  of 
the  original  heralds  of  its  good  tidings,  "Peace  on  earth, 
good  will  to  men."  .  .  . 

When  we  are  doing  our  best  to  lighten  some  hearts  with 
merriment  and  wipe  away  some  tears  with  charity,  what  have 
the  two  representative  Christian  nations  of  the  world  been 
doing?  The  blood  of  innocence  cries  out  from  the  stones  of 
Armenia,  the  races  of  Madagascar  have  been  falling  in  heaps 
before  the  rapid-fire  guns  of  conquest,  and  the  Christian 
missionaries  in  Turkey  and  China  are  huddling  in  vain  for 
protection  round  the  doors  of  the  embassies. 

In  this  sad  crisis  of  humanity  the  two  nations  who  have  made 
Christmas  both  a  memorial  and  a  mockery,  whose  moral 
agreement  alone  would  have  quenched  fanaticism  and  stayed 
rapine,  have  been  set  by  the  ears  over  a  remote  and  unimportant 
boundary  line,  and  fill  the  air  with  threats  of  war.  It  had 
been  believed  that  peace  on  earth  has  its  promise  and  its  hopes 
in  America,  but  the  voice  of  fratricidal  hatred  has  disturbed 
the  faith.  Even  ministers  of  religion  and  eminent  dignitaries 
of  the  Church  have  carried  human  hero-worship  so  far  as  to 


116  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

forget  the  mission  of  their  Master,  and  have  joined  in  the 
clamor  for  war. 

Before  the  Sunday  World  again  appears  we  shall  have  taken 
down  our  wreaths;  the  holly  and  the  mistletoe  will  have  gone 
with  the  voices  of  the  merry-making  children.  But  we  shall 
retain  our  hopes.  The  white  doves,  unseen,  will  be  fluttering 
somewhere.  There  have  been  too  many  Christmases  past  for 
brothers  at  this  late  day  to  set  about  killing  each  other  without 
provocation.  .  .  .  Rancor  and  revenge  have  come  and  gone, 
but  they  will  not  dampen  the  desire  of  men  for  peace  on  earth. 

But  it  was  upon  Christmas  eve  and  Christmas  day,  one 
week  after  the  reading  of  the  Cleveland  message  in  Con- 
gress, that  The  World  made  for  peace  an  appeal  that  will 
long  be  memorable.  For  the  entire  week  it  had  been 
weighting  the  wires  that  bound  the  two  nations  together 
with  messages  whose  fruit  was  then  set  forth. 

The  Prince  of  Wales,  later  King  Edward  VII.,  and  the 
Duke  of  York,  now  King  George  V.,  authorized  this 
despatch : 

,,     „  SANDRINGHAM,  December  24, 1895. 

MR.  PULITZER, 

.  New  York  World,  New  York. 

Sir  Francis  Knollys  is  desired  by  the  Prince  of  Wales  and  the  Duke 
of  York  to  thank  Mr.  Pulitzer  for  his  cablegram. 

They  earnestly  trust,  and  cannot  but  believe,  the  present  crisis  will 
be  arranged  in  a  manner  satisfactory  to  both  countries,  and  will  be 
succeeded  by  the  same  warm  feeling  of  friendship  which  has  existed 
between  them  for  so  many  years. 

Lord  Salisbury's  representative  in  the  foreign  office, 
while  not  prejudicing  Great  Britain's  case  by  admissions, 
thus  indicated  the  temper  of  that  Conservative  statesman : 

J.  PULITZER,  LONDON,  December  22,  1895. 

The  World,  New  York. 

While  fully  reciprocating  your  friendly  sentiments,  it  is  impossible 
for  the  Foreign  Secretary  to  take  the  course  you  suggest  [respecting 
arbitration].  E.  HARRINGTON, 

Foreign  Office. 


VENEZUELA  117 

From  Hawarden,  December  21st,  William  E.  Gladstone, 
former  Prime  Minister,  while  stating  that  he  "  dared  not 
interfere,"  cabled  the  famous  phrase:  "Only  common 
sense  is  necessary. " 

Another  former  Prime  Minister,  Lord  Rosebery,  was 
not  restrained  from  a  more  extended  response.  Wiring 
from  Edinburgh  three  days  before  Christmas,  he  said: 

EDINBUEGH,  December  28,  1895. 
JOSEPH  PULITZER, 

World  Office,  New  York. 

I  can  only  reply  that  I  absolutely  disbelieve  in  the  possibility  of 
war  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  on  such  an  issue  as 
-this,  for  it  would  be  the  greatest  crime  on  record. 

History  would  have  to  relate  that  the  two  mighty  nations  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  race,  at  a  time  when  they  appeared  to  be  about  to  over- 
shadow the  world  in  best  interests  of  Christianity  and  civilization, 
preferred  to  cut  each  other's  throats  about  a  frontier  squabble  in  a 
small  South  American  republic. 

The  proposition  only  requires  to  be  stated  to  demonstrate  its 
absurdity.  All  that  is  wanted  is  a  level  head  and  cool  common 
sense  in  our  governments. 

I  congratulate  you  on  the  good  work  that  your  paper  appears  to 
be  doing  in  this  direction. 

The  great  churchmen  of  England  and  Ireland,  in  the 
despatches  that  follow,  remembered  the  injunction  laid 
upon  Christians  to  live  at  peace  one  with  another: 

LONDON,  December  24,  1895. 
The  World,  PULITZER, 

New  York. 

With  all  my  heart  I  pray  to  God  to  avert  from  this  country  and 
the  United  States  the  crime  and  disaster  of  war  between  them,  and  I 
hold  it  to  be  the  bounden  duty  of  every  man  in  both  countries  to 
avoid  all  provocative  language  and  do  all  that  he  conscientiously  can 
to  promote  peace. 

F.,  London, 

(Bishop  of  London). 


118  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

LONDON,  December  23,  1895. 
NEW  YORK  World, 

New  York. 

Our  common  humanity  and  our  Christianity  would  sternly  condemn 
a  fratricidal  war.  Every  Christian  patriot  on  both  sides  of  the 
Atlantic  must  employ  every  effort  to  avert  a  curse  that  would  strike 
us  all  alike. 

We  are  too  closely  bound  to  America  by  blood,  respect,  and  affection 
for  her  people  to  tolerate  the  idea  of  bloodshed. 

Let  us  all  remember  the  words  "Blessed  are  the  peacemakers,  for 
they  shall  be  called  the  children  of  God." 

HERBERT  CARDINAL  VAUGHAN, 

Archbishop  of  Westminster. 

DUBLIN,  December  23,  1895. 
NEW  YORK  World, 

New  York. 

Wholly  unaware  of  merits  of  case.  Can  only  express  abhorrence 
of  war  in  general. 

It  will  be  deplorable  if  wise  precedent  of  1871  [the  Alabama  claims 
arbitration]  cannot  be  followed. 

ARCHBISHOP,  Dublin, 

(Archbishop  Walsh). 

MANCHESTER,  December  23,  1895. 
PULITZER, 

World,  New  York. 

The  possibility  of  a  war  with  America  fills  most  of  us  with  a  feeling 
of  horror.  It  would  be  to  all  intents  and  purposes  a  civil  war,  and 
could  not  fail  to  arouse  passions  and  create  enmities  which  many 
years  would  fail  to  allay. 

This  would  be  all  the  more  unfortunate  because  of  late  years  the 
feeling  in  England  for  America  and  Americans  has  been  one  of  con- 
tinually increasing,  and  even  fraternal  interest  and  admiration. 

We  cannot  see  what  there  is  in  the  present  dispute  to  create  such 
deep  irritation  as  we  hear  of,  and  we  are  sure  that  if  for  such  a  cause 
war  is  allowed  to  arise  between  brethren  before  every  legitimate  means 
of  conciliation  is  exhausted  those  who  precipitate  the  contest  on 
either  side  will  have  committed  a  crime  against  civilization. 
May  God  avert  so  great  a  crime  and  calamity! 

J.,  MANCHESTER, 

(Bishop  of  Manchester). 


VENEZUELA  119 

December  26,  1895. 
PULITZER, 

World  Office,  New  York. 

Earnestly  hope  peaceful  solution  may  be  found;  every  circumstance 
contributes  to  render  war  between  the  two  countries  a  dreadful 
calamity.  CARDINAL  LOGUE  (of  Ireland). 

JOSEPH  PULITZER,  ARMAGH'  December  ®3>  1895' 

The  World,  New  York. 

War  [between]  England  [and]  America  unnatural,  strife  between 
mother  and  daughter,  the  leaders  in  [the]  progress  [of]  Christianity 
and  civilization,  who  will  continue  so  with  [the]  blessing  of  peace. 

ARCHBISHOP  (of  Armagh). 

DUBLIN,  December  28,  1895. 
World,  New  York. 

I  am  fully  assured  that  every  member  of  the  Church  of  Ireland 
most  earnestly  deprecates  anything  that  could  imperil  peace  or  cause 
disunion  between  us  and  our  American  brethren. 

LORD  PLUNKETT, 

Archbishop  of  Dublin. 

LIVERPOOL,  December  23,  1895. 
The  World,  JOSEPH  PULITZER, 

!New  York. 

American  excitement  very  sorrowful  and  surprising  in  England. 
No  feeling  here  but  peaceful  and  brotherly. 
Much  prayer  going  up.  BISHOP  OF  LIVERPOOL. 

CHESTER,  December  23,  1895. 
JOSEPH  PULITZER, 

New  York  World. 

Every  generous  and  Christian  heart  in  England,  and  not  least  in 
kindly  Chester,  is  wholly  with  you  in  your  high  appeal  to  the  more 
deliberate  judgment  of  your  great  and  understanding  people. 
God  speed  you  in  your  patriotic  endeavor. 

BISHOP  OP  CHESTER. 

The  late  Henry  Labouchere  cabled  with   refreshing 
coolness : 


120  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

So  far  as  I  am  concerned,  would  prefer  Venezuela  and  Guiana 
consigned  to  bottom  of  sea  [rather]  than  war  with  United  States. 

[It  is]  thought  here  United  States  [will]  insist  on  being  the  arbi- 
tratist  in  frontier  dispute.  If  distinctly  understood,  proposal  is  that 
an  unbiased  arbitrator  be  appointed  to  delimit  frontier.  Am  certain 
public  opinion  would  insist  on  our  government  accepting  this  solution. 

Most  desirable  public  men  in  America  should  explain. 

Especial  interest  attaches  to  the  cablegram  of  John 
Redmond  in  view  of  his  prominence  as  a  leader  in  the 
Home  Rule  cause: 

The  World  DUBLIN,  December  23,  1895. 

New  York. 

You  ask  for  expression  of  opinion  on  war  crisis  from  me  as  repre- 
sentative of  British  thought.  In  this,  as  in  all  other  matters,  I  can 
speak  only  as  a  representative  of  Irish  opinion. 

If  war  results  from  reassertion  of  Monroe  doctrine,  Irish  national 
sentiment  will  be  solid  on  side  of  America. 

With  Home  Rule  rejected,  Ireland  can  have  no  feeling  of  friendliness 
toward  Great  Britain.  JOHN  E.  REDMOND,  M.  P. 

The  World's  editorial  comment  upon  this  exhibition  of 
pacific  sentiment  drove  home  the  lesson: 

No  one  can  question  the  sincerity  or  the  manliness  of  these 
utterances.  They  have  the  added  merit  that  under  the  provo- 
cation of  a  threat  against  the  nation  which  they  represent  their 
authors  do  not  reply  in  kind.  Some  of  them  suggest  arbitra- 
tion as  the  proper  solution  of  the  difficulty.  There  could  not 
be  a  happier  or  more  timely  suggestion.  .  .  .  Arbitration  is 
the  right  and  reasonable  policy.  Lord  Salisbury  approved 
the  principle  and  applauded  the  practice.  But  he  objected 
that  no  suitable  arbitrator  of  the  present  dispute  could  be 
found,  and  he  diplomatically — which  does  not  necessarily  mean 
finally — objected  to  including  a  certain  part  of  the  disputed 
territory  to  any  agreement  to  arbitrate.  But  with  public 
opinion  in  both  countries  favoring  arbitration  as  a  thousand 
times  preferable  to  war  in  such  a  petty  dispute  as  this,  no 
government  can  afford  to  stand  out  against  it.  ... 


VENEZUELA  121 

In  what  manner  could  the  President  so  gracefully  and  fit- 
tingly inaugurate  the  glad  holiday  season  as  by  sending  to 
the  English  public  the  words  of  his  great  predecessor  in  office, 
"Let  us  have  peace"? 

The  author  of  the  main  portion  of  the  President's 
Venezuela  message  was  Richard  Olney,  Secretary  of  State. 
The  message  was  "the  result  of  the  false  assumptions  and 
unwarranted  deductions  contained  in  Secretary  Olney 's 
'note'  communicated  through  Mr.  Bayard  [then  our 
Ambassador  to  England]  to  Lord  Salisbury."  His  note 
was  thus  handled  by  The  World  on  December  27th: 

1.  First  of  all,  Mr.  Olney  falsely  assumes  that  this  Vene- 
zuela boundary  dispute  is  the  'kind  of  thing  contemplated  in 
the  Monroe  doctrine.     It  is  inconceivable  that  a  lawyer  of 
Mr.  Olney 's  astuteness  should  be  honestly  mistaken  upon  such 
a  point  and  in  so  egregious  a  way. 

2.  Mr.  Olney  says,  very  offensively,  "The  United  States  is 
to-day  practically  sovereign  on  this  continent,  and  its  fiat  is 
law." 

This  is  obviously  untrue.  The  "fiat"  of  the  United  States 
is  not  law  in  Canada  or  in  British  Columbia;  it  is  certainly 
not  law  in  Chili  or  in  Mexico  or  in  Brazil.  Our  Government  is 
sovereign  within  its  own  borders,  but  it  is  neither  actually 
nor  practically  sovereign  anywhere  else  on  earth.  .  .  . 

3.  As  if  to  make  the  insolence  of  the  foregoing  assertion  more        N 
offensive,  Mr.  Olney  explains  to  the  British  Government  that 

our  "practical  sovereignty"  and  the  influence  of  our  "fiat" 
are  due,  not  chiefly  to  our  exalted  character  as  a  nation,  but  to 
our  ability  to  "lick  all  creation."  It  is,  he  says,  "because, 
in  addition  to  all  other  grounds  its  infinite  resources,  combined 
with  its  isolated  position,  render  it  master  of  the  situation  and 
practically  invulnerable,  as  against  any  or  all  other  powers." 
This  is  a  boast  which  the  General  of  the  Army  has  flatly  con- 
tradicted in  his  latest  official  report.  So  far  from  being  "invul- 
nerable," Gen.  Miles  says  we  are  in  a  defenseless  condition  as 
regards  our  seacoast.  So  far  from  being  "master  of  the 
situation,"  we  should  have  to  trust  to  luck  in  any  foreign  war. 
9 


122  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

So  far  from  being  ready  to  fight  "any  or  all  other  powers," 
we  are  unready  to  fight  any  power,  if  readiness  implies  a  proper 
equipment. 

Mr.  Olney  was  not  an  antagonist  without  resource. 
He  " dragged  down  from  the  ancient  armory  of  the  law" 
as  still  "in  full  force  and  unrepealed"  section  5335  of  the 
Revised  Statutes  of  the  United  States.  This  statute, 
passed  January  30,  1799,  sets  forth: 

Any  citizen  of  the  United  States  who,  without  the  permission  or 
authority  of  the  Government  .  .  .  carries  on  any  verbal  correspond- 
ence or  intercourse  with  any  foreign  government,  with  an  intent  to 
influence  the  conduct  of  any  foreign  government  in  relation  to  any 
controversy  with  the  United  States,  .  .  .  shall  be  punished  by  a 
fine  of  not  more  than  $5,000  and  by  imprisonment  during  a  term 
not  less  than  six  months,  nor  more  than  three  years. 

On  January  7,  1896,  Senator  Lodge,  of  Massachusetts, 
quoted  this  section  with  approval  in  the  Senate,  bringing 
from  The  World  an  amused  rejoinder: 

This  is  undoubtedly  law.  It  is  on  the  statute  books.  It  is 
section  5335.  It  is  reinforced  by  section  2113,  of  the  same 
era,  which  forbids  corresponding  with  foreign  governments  to 
incite  the  Indians  to  raids  on  the  settlers.  .  .  .  The  World 
pleads  guilty  in  advance  to  having,  "  without  the  permission 
or  authority "  of  Mr.  Cleveland  or  Mr.  Olney,  carried  on  inter- 
course by  cable  with  Lord  Salisbury,  the  Prince  of  Wales  and 
Duke  of  York,  the  Rothschilds  and  other  foreign  dignitaries. 

The  statute  cited  is  aged,  obsolete,  moldy,  moth-eaten, 
dust-covered,  and  was  forgotten  until  resuscitated  by  the  zeal 
and  watchfulness  of  Secretary  Olney.  It  is  true,  furthermore, 
that  the  more  modern  laws,  notably  the  anti-trust  laws  and 
anti-monopoly  laws,  are  not  enforced.  But  this  does  not  relieve 
'the  ex- Attorney-General  from  enforcing  the  law  to  which  he 
has  called  attention  through  the  newspapers.  It  is  really  time 
to  make  an  example  of  presumptuous  editors  who  dare  to  inter- 
fere to  break  the  force  and  repair  the  damage  of  an  imitation 
jingo  policy  with  its  disturbing  threat  of  war. 


VENEZUELA  123 

The  ironical  article  closed  with  a  loftier  defiance: 
"The  World  will  not  descend  into  the  dungeon  and  put 
out  its  million-candle-power  torch  of  liberty  and  intelli- 
gence without  a  struggle. "  When,  years  later,  an  eminent 
friend  of  Mr.  Lodge  was  to  imitate  him  in  invoking  an 
obsolete  statute  to  silence  The  World  in  a  matter  of  political 
conscience  it  was  to  fight  him  to  the  last  ditch  in  the  same 
spirit  and  win  another  notable  triumph. 

"Only  common  sense "  was,  as  it  proved,  necessary. 
The  men  who  after  reflection  desired  peace  were  in  a 
majority  in  both  countries.  What  was  needed  was  a 
voice. 

That  there  was  nothing  to  fight  about  was  shown  in  the 
sequel.  When  negotiation  succeeded  to  threats  interest 
in  the  Venezuelan  question  lapsed.  Why  should  it  not? 
The  claims  of  the  two  countries  differed  by  sixty-three 
thousand  square  miles;  but  it  is  doubtful  if  there  were 
a  hundred  white  men  in  the  disputed  territory.  In  all 
British  Guiana  in  Schomburgk's  day  were  four  thousand 
whites.  There  are  less  than  five  thousand  now,  aside 
from  the  Portuguese  drawn  thither  by  the  nearness  of 
Brazil;  and  in  1908,  in  this  pestilential  region  for  a 
bit  of  which  Britain  and  America  were  seventeen  years 
ago  at  the  point  of  war,  deaths  exceeded  births  by  thir- 
teen per  cent. 

It  is  doubtful  if  one  man  in  a  hundred  in  either  country 
remembers  what  became  of  the  controversy.  With  the 
dawning  of  the  new  year  the  work  of  clearing  up  the  mis- 
understanding went  forward.  Direct  relations  between 
Venezuela  and  Great  Britain  having  been  broken  off, 
the  United  States  continued  to  act  in  behalf  of  the  former 
state.  On  June  6,  1897,  an  arbitration  treaty  between 
Great  Britain  and  Venezuela  was  ratified.  Venezuela 
chose  as  her  representatives  upon  a  boundary  commission 
Chief  Justice  Fuller,  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court, 
and  Associate  Justice  Brewer;  Great  Britain,  Lord 


124  THE    STORY    OF   A   PAGE 

Herschel  and  Justice  Collins;  and  the  four  agreed  upon 
Professor  Martens,  the  Russian  peace  advocate,  as  a 
fifth.  On  October  3,  1899,  the  "modified  Schom- 
burgk  line"  was  unanimously  adopted.  Again  it  was 
found  impossible  to  follow  in  the  field  a  line  laid  down 
from  imperfect  maps,  and  in  1902  the  little  that  was  left 
of  the  dispute  was  referred  to  the  King  of  Italy,  who  in 
1904  fixed  the  present  line. 

There  are  those  who  think  that  Grover  Cleveland's 
Venezuela  message  was  a  masterpiece  of  statecraft,  that 
it  "put  the  country  on  the  map"  where  diplomats  forever 
docket  the  shifting  war  strength  of  the  world  and  scheme 
for  preponderant  combinations.  So  a  war  lord  may 
reason,  eager  not  to  be  overlooked  in  any  division  of  the 
spoil  of  weak  nations,  but  what  have  such  considerations 
to  do  with  a  peaceable  republic,  remote  from  the  battle- 
grounds of  the  Old  World  and  committed  by  wise  founders 
to  avoid  entangling  alliances  and  occasions  of  warfare? 

Had  The  World  cast  its  influence  upon  the  side  of  war  in 
December,  1895,  a  conflict  might  still  have  been  averted. 
But  no  one  who  has  studied  the  incident  will  fail  to  re- 
joice that  the  margin  by  which  that  calamity  was  avoided 
was  widened  by  the  courage  and  the  eloquence  of  one 
American  newspaper. 

For  The  World  and  its  proprietor  there  came  some 
months  later  a  reminder  of  the  part  they  had  taken  in  the 
controversy.  The  presentation  of  an  address  of  thanks 
to  Joseph  Pulitzer  by  the  peace  societies  of  Great  Britain 
is  here  told  in  the  Associated  Press  despatch  under  date 
of  London,  June  5,  1896: 

LONDON,  June  5:  A  remarkable  tribute  was  paid  to  an  American 
journalist  and  to  American  journalism  at  Moray  Lodge  this  afternoon. 

Representatives  of  all  the  leading  peace  and  arbitration  societies 
in  the  United  Kingdom,  others  in  sympathy  with  the  movement,  and 
a  number  of  leading  American  and  English  personages  assembled  on 
the  occasion  of  the  presentation  of  an  address  of  thanks  to  Mr.  Joseph 


VENEZUELA  125 

Pulitzer,  proprietor  of  the  New  York  World,  for  his  efforts  in  behalf 
of  good  feeling  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain. 

In  addition  to  delegates  from  these  societies  the  company  included 
Cardinal  Vaughan,  Sir  Lewis  Morris,  the  Hon.  Rev.  Carr  Glynn, 
Sir  James  Reckitt,  Sir  Robert  Head  Cook,  editor  of  the  Daily  News, 
and  Mr.  Henry  Watterson,  editor  of  The  Louisville  Courier- Journal. 

The  deputation  was  introduced  by  Passmore  Edwards,  and  included 
delegates  from  the  Peace  Society,  the  International  Arbitration  and 
Peace  Association,  the  International  Arbitration  League,  the  Peace 
Committee  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  and  the  Dublin  Peace  Society. 

The  engrossed  address,  on  vellum,  presented  to  Mr.  Pulitzer,  which 
was  read,  says: 

"We  desire,  on  behalf  of  all  who  wish  to  see  knit,  even  more  firmly, 
the  ties  of  history  and  kinship  between  the  two  great  branches  of  the 
English-speaking  race,  to  proffer  our  hearty  thanks  for  the  prompt 
efforts  made  by  you  and  the  great  journal  you  direct  toward  that 
noble  object,  and  to  congratulate  you  on  the  immense  and  gratifying 
success  resulting  from  that  beneficent  exemplification  of  the  mar- 
velous facilities  of  modern  journalism  in  the  dark  days  of  last  December. 

"Your  prompt  intervention  evoked  from  the  best,  wisest,  and  most 
influential  persons  of  the  day  so  united  and  emphatic  a  protest  that 
the  counsels  of  moderation  and  sanity  were  enabled  to  exert  their 
rightful  sway  over  true  public  sentiment." 

The  address  .  .  .  dwells  upon  the  desire  of  both  nations  for  perma- 
nent arbitration  and  closes  with  a  renewed  tribute  to  Mr.  Pulitzer 
and  The  World. 

The  reading  of  the  address  was  much  applauded,  and  a  number  of 
speeches  followed. 

Cardinal  Vaughan  said : 

"I  desire  to  bear  testimony  to  the  great  services  you,  sir,  have 
rendered  in  the  cause  of  peace  between  two  great  peoples  of  a  common 
language  and  tradition;  the  two  great  nations  in  which  the  demo- 
cratic spirit  most  rapidly  develops.  Fears  have  been  expressed  that 
a  democracy  would  be  unable  to  bear  up  in  a  time  of  political  excite- 
ment and  stress.  But  it  was  seen  how  a  great  journalist,  directing  a 
great  journal,  representing  the  popular  mind,  was  able  to  seize  the 
moment  when  trouble  threatened,  and  by  a  timely  warning,  by  the 
use  of  common  sense,  by  an  appeal  to  humanity  and  morality,  which 
reside  in  both,  was  able  to  calm  the  public  mind  and  create  in  both 
nations  a  feeling  that  peace  must  prevail.  Your  great  efforts  were 
widely  appreciated.  But  your  task  is  far  from  complete.  You, 


126  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

with  us,  must  desire  and  must  work  for  a  permanent  tribunal.  It  has 
been  my  happiness  and  privilege  to  be  here  and  to  add  my  tribute 
of  respect." 

Sir  Robert  Head  Cook,  editor  of  the  Daily  News,  then  spoke  of  the 
services  rendered  to  the  profession  of  journalism  by  Mr.  Pulitzer's 
action. 

After  more  speeches  touching  his  efforts,  Mr.  Pulitzer  stepped 
forward  to  reply,  and  was  greeted  with  loud  applause.  He  said: 

"  I  am  deeply  touched,  but  am,  unfortunately,  an  invalid,  and  under 
a  doctor's  orders,  and  I  ask  permission  that  my  response  be  read  by 
a  young  American  friend — my  son." 

Ralph  Pulitzer  then  read  his  father's  reply,  as  follows: 

"THE  REIGN  OP  REASON  vs.  THE  REIGN  OF  FORCE 

"I  am  deeply  sensible  of  the  great  compliment  of  your  presence. 
Yet  I  feel  that  you  come  to  do  honor  to  a  principle,  and  not  to  a  person. 
It  is  a  natural  desire  with  men  of  earnest  conviction  to  find  expression 
for  that  conviction. 

"I  know  of  no  purely  moral  sentiment  that  has  been  advanced  in 
England  since  the  abolition  of  slavery  that  appeals  so  strongly  to  the 
mind  and  heart  as  this  idea  of  substituting  civilized  methods  of  peace 
and  reason  for  barbarism  and  needless  war. 

"  It  is  encouraging  to  feel  that  there  are  men  in  the  world  like  those 
constituting  your  various  peace  and  arbitration  organizations;  men 
who,  putting  aside  their  own  interest  and  pleasure,  and  neglecting 
their  own  comfort  and  their  own  affairs,  labor  for  the  public  good  and 
a  high  ideal.  We  beyond  the  Atlantic  have  watched  with  admiration 
your  devoted  enthusiasm,  often  under  discouragement  and  not  seldom 
in  the  face  of  misapprehension.  I  congratulate  you  upon  the  fruit 
of  your  labors  in  the  progress  of  this  sentiment  which  I  have  observed 
during  my  present  visit. 

"In  America  there  is  not — or,  at  least,  recently  there  was' not — a 
single  organized  society  such  as  yours.  But  this  is  not  because  the 
American  people  are  opposed  to  the  principle  you  represent.  Just 
the  reverse.  It  is  because  all  of  the  people  in  the  United  States, 
regardless  of  parties  and  sections,  are  in  favor  of  arbitration  and,  as 
it  were,  form  one  national  arbitration  society,  which  has  grown  from 
a  membership  of  seven  million  that  it  had  when  arbitration  was 
provided  for  in  the  Treaty  of  Ghent  to  seventy  million  to-day.  It  is 
growing  at  the  rate  of  over  a  million  a  year,  and  will  number  over  a 
a  hundred  millions  in  twenty  years. 


VENEZUELA  127 

"True  Americanism  means  arbitration.  If  the  great  Republic 
across  the  sea  stands  for  anything  it  stands  for  the  reign  of  reason 
as  opposed  to  the  reign  of  force;  for  argument,  peaceful  discussion, 
and  lawful  adjustment  as  opposed  to  passion  and  war. 

"America  is  proud  of  the  fact  that  arbitration  is  an  American  idea. 

"Even  our  jingoes  all  were  and  are  for  arbitration,  and  the  dark 
cloud  that  recently  passed  over  America  was  only  made  possible  by 
an  unfortunate  refusal  of  arbitration. 

"It  was  a  noble  idea  that  stirred  the  American  people,  even  though 
that  idea  was  based  upon  a  mistaken  conception  of  fact.  The  spirit 
of  protest  was  called  out  by  a  natural  sympathy  with  the  under  dog, 
as  we  say — with  the  weak  against  the  strong — and  not  by  any  personal 
feeling  for  Venezuela,  with  which  country  Americans  have  hardly 
anything  in  common.  It  was  produced  by  the  regard  of  our  people 
for  the  very  appearance  of  justice,  though  the  substance  itself  were 
not  there,  and  by  their  determination  to  protect  American  ideas 
against  foreign  intrusion,  even  outside  our  boundary  line. 

"In  the  mind  of  every  American  the  cherished  Monroe  doctrine 
stands  almost  side  by  side  with  the  Constitution  and  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  and  if,  from  their  great  devotion  to  that  doctrine — 
which  in  an  impulsive  enthusiasm  they  thought  was  involved — 
Americans  espoused  the  Venezuelan  cause,  is  that  not  more  creditable 
to  them  than  if  they  had  acted  from  mere  personal  sympathy? 

"If  the  New  York  World  has  been  to  any  degree  helpful  in  this 
Venezuelan  affair,  your  warm  words  of  appreciation  are  welcome, 
and  are  an  encouragement  to  all  members  of  my  profession  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic  who  have  fearlessly  discharged  their  duty  under 
great  difficulties.  For  it  is  not  pleasant  both  to  criticize  the  govern- 
ment and  offend  the  people  in  free  countries,  where  popular  opinion 
is  always  the  force  behind  the  government.  Where  that  opinion  is 
subject  to  impulses,  often  from  an  excess  of  enthusiasm,  the  responsi- 
bility of  the  press  becomes  most  grave. 

1  It  is  a  duty  to  interpret  the  right,  to  expose  the  wrong,  to  teach  the 
moral,  to  advocate  the  true  and  oppose  the  false,  constantly  and  con- 
scientiously, judicially  and  fearlessly. 

"  Without  sacrificing  conscience  to  the  natural  desire  of  plaudits  and 
popularity,  it  must  attack  error,  whether  emanating  from  the  Cabinet  or 
from  the  people  themselves. 

"It  must  do  its  duty  against  that  false  and  perverted  patriotism  called 
jingoism. 

"True  patriotism,  true  Americanism  mean  love  of  and  pride  in 
country.  But  we  love  our  great  Republic,  not  because  it  has  seventy 
millions  of  people,  not  because  of  its  vast  area  and  exhaustless  re- 


128  THE    STORY    OF   A   PAGE 

sources,  not  even  because  of  its  wonderful  progress.  We  love  her 
because  her  corner-stone  is  enlightened  intelligence,  and  her  foundations 
are  freedom,  equality,  public  morality,  national  honor,  tolerance,  and, 
above  all,  justice. 

11  Jingoism  is  not  confined  to  any  one  country,  but  is  found  in 
England  as  well  as  in  America,  in  Germany  as  well  as  in  France,  in 
Russia  as  well  as  in  Japan.  Jingoism  is  an  appeal  to  national  vanity, 
national  prejudices,  or  national  animosities. 

"Every  day  there  rests  upon  the  conscientious  press  the  responsi- 
bility of  combating  these  prejudices  and  of  teaching  lessons  of  enlight- 
enment. 

"Arbitration,  as  I  have  said,  is  an  American  idea.  The  very  first 
treaty  of  peace  into  which  the  United  States  entered,  the  treaty  with 
England  in  1783,  provided  that  any  dispute  that  might  arise  under  it 
should  be  settled  by  arbitration.  The  second  treaty  of  peace,  the 
Treaty  of  Ghent,  made  in  1814,  also  contained  an  arbitration  clause, 
which  was  the  means  of  settling  several  acute  disputes  that  otherwise 
might  have  reopened  the  smarting  wounds  of  war. 

"Three  times  since  the  war  of  1812  peace  was  threatened  more 
darkly  than  in  the  Venezuela  incident.  The  first  occasion  was  the 
dispute  as  to  the  northeastern  boundary,  which  came  to  a  crisis  in 
1828.  War  seemed  inevitable,  but  the  arrangements  for  arbitration 
gave  time  for  passion  to  cool  and  for  reason  to  have  a  fair  hearing, 
and  the  crisis  ended  in  a  compromise.  Then  there  were  the  difficulties 
arising  from  the  Trent  affair  and  the  Alabama  claims. 

"  In  the  Trent  affair  war  was  averted  because  both  nations  listened 
to  reason.  In  the  affair  of  the  Alabama  claims  the  Treaty  of  Wash- 
ington was  made  in  1871,  providing  for  the  Geneva  Arbitration 
Tribunal. 

"The  force  of  the  idea  of  arbitration  in  America  is  well  illustrated 
by  the  settlement  of  the  Canadian  fisheries  dispute  in  1878.  The 
Arbitration  Commission  decided  in  favor  of  England.  After  the 
decision  was  announced  it  was  discovered  that  the  award  was  based 
on  false  evidence.  But  America  honorably  insisted  upon  abiding  by 
the  decision  of  the  commission  and  paid  the  award  of  $5,000,000  to 
our  Canadian  friends — a  gigantic  sum  for  a  few  fish. 

"In  the  eighty  years  since  the  Treaty  of  Ghent  America  has  an 
unbroken  record  for  arbitration.  Only  a  short  time  ago,  in  1890, 
both  Houses  of  the  American  Congress  joined  in  a  resolution  authorizing 
the  President  to  negotiate  with  the  powers  to  the  end  that  differences 
and  disputes  which  cannot  be  adjusted  by  diplomatic  agency  may  be 
referred  to  arbitration.  ID  all,  the  United  States  have  taken  part 
in  twelve  great  arbitrations.  Ten  of  these  were  arbitrations  of  dis- 


VENEZUELA  129 

putes  with  Great  Britain.    Also,  we  have  acted  as  arbiters  in  six 
international  disputes. 

"In  no  case  have  the  United  States  ever  refused  arbitration.  In 
no  case  have  they  made  war,  except  for  independence  and  self-preserva- 
tion. Those  facts  go  far  toward  assuring  peace  as  an  outcome  of  the 
Venezuela  case. 

"But  the  chief  danger  was  passed  when  England  recognized  the 
American  Commission  now  sitting  at  Washington.  That  was  really 
the  first  step  toward  arbitration. 

"When  England  accepted  our  commission,  when  she  made  a  courte- 
ous and  tactful  offer  of  facilities,  she  insured  a  peaceful  settlement 
of  the  question.  She  might  have  refused  to  recognize  the  commission. 
She  not  only  did  recognize  it,  but  she  also  submitted  her  claim  and 
case  to  it  with  all  the  evidence  in  her  possession. 

"You  may  feel  assured  that  the  decision  of  the  American  Commis- 
sion, composed  of  four  judges  and  scholars,  will  be  as  fair  and  judicial 
as  would  be  the  result  reached  by  any  four  of  your  own  judges.  The 
American  Commission,  gentlemen,  will  justify  both  the  moderation 
and  the  confidence  of  the  British  Government. 

"The  outcome  will  be  peace;  peace  with  a  better  understanding, 
with  friendlier  good  will,  with  kindlier  feeling. 

"But  I  hope  and  believe  that  both  nations  will  provide  against 
the  recurrence  of  such  a  crisis. 

"If  you  will  vigorously  carry  on  your  campaign  of  education  you 
can  make  it  most  improbable  that  any  government  will  refuse  to  arbi- 
trate such  trifling  disputes  again. 

"But  as  to  the  future  danger,  let  us  trust  that  there  will  be  either  a  treaty 
or  a  tribunal  making  it  impossible  for  the  two  nations  to  go  to  war  about 
any  issue  that  does  not  involve  the  national  existence. 

"  Civilization  means  that  disputes  and  differences,  whether  individual 
or  international,  shall  be  settled  by  reason  or  by  some  judicial  process, 
and  not  by  force.  Civilization  is  no  more  possible  without  peace 
than  permanent  peace  is  possible  without  arbitration.  Yet  it  does 
not  mean  peace  at  any  price. 

"There  are  certain  issues  that  are  not  arbitrable.  War  against  a 
cruel  despotism  or  slavery  Americans  regard  as  not  only  just,  but  as 
inevitable. 

"They  believe  in  the  French  Revolution.  They  naturally  sympa- 
thize with,  the  uprising  of  any  people  against  despotism,  whether  in 
Greece  or  Hungary  or  Poland  in  the  past,  or  in  Cuba  to-day. 

"I  cannot  help  feeling  that  you,  as  Englishmen,  share  with  the 
Americans  at  least  in  some  of  these  sympathies.  I  have  always 
held  it  one  of  England's  greatest  glories,  almost  equal  to  her  matchless 


130  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

literature,  almost  equal  to  her  genius  for  conquest,  colonization  and 
government  in  the  remotest  parts  of  the  globe,  unsurpassed  since  the 
days  of  the  Romans,  that  for  a  century  she  has  been  for  all  Europe 
the  strong  place  of  refuge  for  political  offenders. 

"She,  with  Switzerland,  has  been  practically  the  only  European 
asylum  for  liberty-loving  revolutionists  and  political  exiles.  She 
has  protected  all  alike,  whether  anarchist  or  monarchist,  whether 
rebel  or  pretender  to  a  throne.  And  since  England  has  shown  this 
devotion  to  political  freedom,  Englishmen  will  understand  a  similar 
spirit  in  America. 

"  However  we  may  differ  on  many  questions,  we  have  common 
sympathies  for  liberty  and  humanity,  just  as  we  have  a  common 
language. 

"  We  speak,  we  read,  we  think,  we  feel,  we  hope,  we  love,  we  pray — 
aye,  we  dream — in  the  same  language.  The  twentieth  century  is  dawning. 
Let  us  dream  that  it  will  realize  our  ideals  and  the  higher  destiny  of 
mankind. 

"Let  us  dream  not  of  hideous  war  and  butchery,  of  barbarism  and 
darkness,  but  of  enlightenment,  progress  and  peace." 


X 

THE   BOND   RING 

1896 

Two  Splendid  Journalistic  Exploits  in  Three  Weeks — Vast  Profit  of  the 
Morgan  Syndicate  on  the  February,  1895,  Bond  Sale — Failure  to  Protect 
the  Government  from  the  "Endless  Chain"  of  Gold  Depletion  —  "The 
World's"  Offer  of  $1,000,000  for  Bonds  —  Its  Telegrams  to  Bankers 
Throughout  the  Country  Produce  Hundreds  of  Millions  of  Offers  for 
the  Securities  at  Open  Sale — The  Ring  Defeated — Immense  Success  of  the 
Offered  Bonds — How  Republicanism  Was  Driven  to  Become  the  Sound- 
Money  Party — Dilemma  of  the  Democratic  Press. 

NOT  until  the  appearance  of  Mr.  Cleveland's  message, 
on  December  18,  1895,  did  the  Venezuela  crisis  become 
acute. 

Within  the  next  twenty  days  The  World  had  not  only 
powerfully  aided  the  cause  of  peace  and  friendship  with 
Great  Britain,  but  had  halted  another  of  Mr.  Cleveland's 
blunders  and  had  saved  to  the  federal  Treasury  millions 
of  dollars. 

The  calendar  threw  the  service  to  the  nation  in  the 
Venezuela  matter  into  1895  and  the  breaking  of  the  Bond 
Ring  into  1896,  but  both  these  exploits  were  crowded 
into  three  splendid  weeks. 

The  Bond  Ring,  the  silver  craze,  the  tariff  struggle,  and 
the  financial  panic  of  1893-97  were  interrelated.  The 
Treasury  surplus  had  disappeared,  partly  dissipated  by 
Republican  extravagance,  partly  because  of  the  reduction 
of  importation  and  the  curtailing  of  private  expenditure 
during  the  panic,  more  directly  because  of  the  failure 
of  revenue  through  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court 


132  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

annulling  the  income  tax.  But  Congress  in  1895,  with 
the  House  heavily  Republican,  the  Republicans  in  the 
Senate  slightly  overbalanced  by  Democrats  and  Popu- 
lists, and  with  both  parties  warring  over  silver,  was  in 
no  mood  for  sane  finance. 

The  World  had  a  simple  plan  for  replenishing  the 
Treasury.  It  was  to  put  another  dollar  a  barrel  of  in- 
ternal-revenue tax  on  beer  and  to  levy  some  slight  stamp 
taxes  such  as  those  imposed  during  the  Spanish  war. 
But  neither  party  was  disposed  to  do  away  with  the 
deficit.  To  both  it  seemed  useful.  The  Republicans 
employed  it  as  an  excuse  for  increasing  tariff  exactions 
under  the  guise  of  a  revenue  measure.  The  Populists  and 
the  silver  Democrats,  now  in  control  of  their  party,  almost 
welcomed  any  calamity  which  could  emphasize  a  demand 
for  radical  cures. 

In  February,  1895,  to  maintain  the  failing  reserve,  the 
Treasury  had  privately  sold  bonds  at  a  low  price  to 'a 
syndicate  headed  by  J.  P.  Morgan,  which  undertook  to 
import  part  of  the  gold  for  the  purchase.  The  syndicate 
was  also  to  " protect"  the  government  by  some  mysterious 
method  which  failed  to  operate;  the  drain  of  gold  from  the 
Treasury  continued,  and  an  ''  endless  chain "  of  with- 
drawals worked  in  favor  of  new  bond  issues.  As  early 
as  August  15,  1895,  The  World  warned  Mr.  Cleveland  and 
Secretary  Carlisle: 

In  any  event  the  Government  should  not  again  be  caught 
napping.  If  there  shall  be  necessity  for  selling  bonds  they 
should  be  sold  in  time  and  in  the  open  market  at  something 
like  their  real  value.  The  Government  should  not  again  allow 
itself  to  be  "  cornered."  It  should  not  again  sell  bonds  to  a 
syndicate  for  104}/£  which  the  people  are  eager  to  take  at 
120  or  more. 

The  Morgan  participants'  undertaking  to  protect  the 
government  reserves  was  impossible  in  the  face  of  inade- 


THE    BOND    RING  133 

quate  revenues  and  a  vast  outstanding  mass  of  convert- 
ible greenbacks;  it  was  also  against  their  interests  as 
merchants  seeking  another  opportunity  to  buy  the  obliga- 
tions of  the  nation.  "The  men,"  said  The  World,  "who 
undertook  to  protect  the  reserve  in  return  for  many 
millions  of  profit  on  bonds  worth  120  which  they  got  at 
104^  will  have  no  interest  after  October  1st  except  to 
deplete  the  reserve  as  rapidly  as  possible  and  thus  compel 
another  deal."  On  December  26th,  immediately  after 
the  publication  of  the  Christmas  messages  on  Venezuela 
from  British  public  men,  The  World  turned  to  its  fight 
with  the  Treasury.  Congress,  not  the  President,  it  said, 
should  judge  what  should  be  done.  "And  especially 
there  should  be  no  further  costly  dickers  with  a  bond 
syndicate,  even  under  the  pretense  now  put  forth  at 
Washington  that  the  underwriting  of  a  syndicate  is  nec- 
essary to  make  sure  of  a  sufficient  bond  subscription." 

No  public  notice  was  given  that  the  Treasury  was  pre- 
paring for  another  bond  issue,  but  evidence  lay  upon 
the  surface  of  affairs  in  Washington.  Chronicling  the 
fact,  The  World  said: 

It  certainly  should  not  be  another  bond  "deal"  like  that 
which  discredited  the  nation  last  February.  The  credit  of  the 
country  is  immeasurably  greater  now  than  it  was  in  the  sixties, 
the  seventies  or  the  eighties.  Yet  on  a  small  loan  of  sixty  odd 
millions  it  sold  its  4-per-cents  to  a  syndicate  at  a  price  which 
was  suggestive  of  a  greatly  impaired  credit.  ...  The  country 
wants  no  more  of  that  sort  of  thing. 

By  telegrams  to  banks  and  financial  houses  in  every  part 
of  the  country  The  World  secured  an  immense  mass  of 
testimony  that  there  would  be  no  lack  of  subscriptions  to 
a  popular  loan.  Proof  accumulated  that  the  government 
was  not  "at  the  mercy  of  one  individual." 

On  January  3,  1896,  in  connection  with  a  mass  of  tele- 
grams and  other  offers  and  pledges  of  capital  for  the  pur- 


134  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

chase  of  bonds,  The  World  played  its  trump  card  in  the 
following  editorial,  one  of  those  that  have  made  history: 

To  you,  Mr.  Cleveland,  The  World  appeals.  It  asks  you  to 
save  the  country  from  the  mischief,  the  wrong  and  the  scandal 
of  the  pending  bond  deal.  You  only  have  power  even  yet  to 
veto  it.  If  it  is  consummated  its  memory  will  be  a  colossal 
scandal,  and  you  will  bear  the  blame. 

The  needless  waste  of  ten  or  fifteen  millions  in  this  transaction 
is  not  the  only  or  even  the  chief  objection  to  it.  It  involves 
something  of  immeasurably  greater  worth  than  any  number 
of  millions.  It  involves  popular  confidence  in  the  integrity  of 
the  Government,  that  faith  of  the  people  in  their  rulers  which 
is  the  life-blood  of  free  institutions. 

You  have  not  asked  advice  of  the  party  leaders  in  Congress 
or  out.  The  only  person  whose  counsel  you  have  taken  is 
the  bond-broker  who  has  millions  to  make  by  inducing  you  to 
take  his  advice.  His  lawyer,  who  was  formerly  your  partner, 
is  in  Washington  to  help  his  secret  deal. 

James  T.  Woodward,  President  of  the  Hanover  Bank,  has 
also  been  in  Washington,  and  he  is  publicly  known  to  have 
accumulated  $4,000,000  in  gold  in  expectation  of  the  exorbitant 
profit  of  this  deal. 

Mr.  Stillman,  of  the  National  City  Bank,  who  has  also  been 
at  the  capital  to  help  on  the  dicker,  has  a  hoard  of  $8,000,000 
in  gold  to  invest  in  the  speculation. 

Secrecy  of  negotiation  under  such  circumstances  awakens, 
unjustly,  suspicions  against  the  honor  of  the  Government  itself. 
These  suspicions  are  more  threatening  to  the  stability  of  our 
institutions  than  the  enmity  of  any  foreign  foe  could  be.  The 
most  damaging  thing  that  could  happen  to  the  Republic  is 
the  lodgment  of  conviction  in  the  people's  mind  that  ours  has 
become  a  Government  by  Syndicates  for  Syndicates. 

Trust  the  people,  Mr.  Cleveland!  You  can  get  all  the  gold 
you  need  in  Europe  at  1  per  cent.,  or  less,  premium.  You  can 
get  it  in  our  own  country  without  paying  any  premium  at  all. 
An  issue  of  $50,000,000  in  bonds,  ample  for  present  needs, 
would  be  subscribed  by  the  public  many  times  over  at  3  per 
cent.,  or  on  a  3-per-cent.  basis. 


THE    BOND    RING  135 

So  sure  are  we  of  this  that  The  World  now  offers  to  head  the 
list  with  a  subscription  of  one  million  dollars  on  its  own  account. 
It  will  take  that  amount,  and  it  will  promptly  find  and  furnish 
the  gold  with  which  to  pay  for  the  bonds.  The  whole  country 
will  respond  with  like  alacrity.  Europe  will  clamor  for  them. 
Trust  the  People,  Mr.  Cleveland, 

And  smash  the  Ring! 

The  World  recalled  the  war-time  spirit  which  had  made 
subscription  for  government  bonds  a  patriotic  service. 
"The  millions  involved  as  a  loss  to  the  people  are  as 
nothing,"  it  pointed  out,  "  compared  with  the  calamity  of 
disgust.  Better  a  hundred  millions  lost,  or  a  thousand, 
than  that  the  people  of  the  Republic  shall  doubt  the 
integrity  of  the  Government  and  learn  to  believe  that 
money  has  taken  the  place  of  manhood  as  the  controlling 
force  in  the  nation. " 

Late  in  the  evening  of  January  5th  the  President  and 
Secretary  Carlisle  yielded.  The  private  bargain  was 
abandoned.  A  public  bond  sale  was  decided  upon.  As 
The  World  said  in  promptly  acknowledging  the  President's 
act,  Mr.  Cleveland  had  "  preserved  the  public  credit  and 
maintained  the  national  credit." 

Two  strong  New  York  banks  in  the  Bond  Ring  with- 
drew on  January  9th.  When  the  bonds  were  bid  for  in 
early  February  the  entire  issue  of  $100,000,000 — larger 
than  had  been  contemplated — was  oversubscribed  nearly 
six  times.  "The  organizer  of  the  syndicate,"  as  was 
chronicled,  "bid  over  $6,000,000  more  for  the  $100,000,000 
of  bonds  than  he  negotiated  to  get  them  for  in  December." 
The  World's  own  bid  was  $114,  the  highest  received  except 
for  small  amounts.  The  price  of  the  new  issue  soon  rose ; 
two  weeks  later  a  bidder  offered  $114.50  for  $5,000,000 
of  "lapsed-bid"  bonds,  but  under  a  ruling  of  the  Treasury 
these  were  awarded  to  the  Morgan  syndicate  for  $110.6877. 

Despite  this  splendid  success  for  the  method  of  trusting 
the  people,  Mr.  Cleveland  could  never  see  the  blunder  of 


136  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

the  secret  negotiations  with  Mr.  Morgan.  In  an  account 
published  May  7,  1904,  of  the  bond  transactions  of  his 
administration  he  defended  the  Morgan-Belmont  contract 
on  the  ground  that  it  "  required  of  them  such  labor,  risk 
and  expense  as  perhaps  entitled  them  to  a  favorable^ 
bargain/'  "I  shall  always  recall  with  satisfaction  and  self- 
congratulation/7  he  added,  "my  collusion  with  them  at  a 
time  when  our  country  sorely  needed  their  aid." 

The  World's  response  to  this  challenge,  afterward  pub- 
lished in  pamphlet  form,  was  a  history  of  the  "  Great 
Bond  Conspiracy."  In  this  it  showed  that  the  value  of 
United  States  bonds  at  the  time  of  the  February  secret  bar- 
gain was  higher  than  that  shown  by  any  other  government 
security  in  the  world  save  only  British  consols;  that 
under  the  February  contract  $60,000,000  in  bonds  were 
sold  to  the  syndicate  for  $65,112,743  and  immediately 
sold  by  it  to  the  public  for  $73,418,575;  that  the  terms 
of  the  contract  were  arranged  by  Morgan's  lawyer  after  a 
four-hour  conference  between  Morgan  and  the  President 
in  the  White  House;  that  in  all  the  war-time  period  of 
1861-65,  when  the  nation  was  assailed  and  Europe  looked 
hopefully  for  its  dissolution,  less  commission  was  paid 
upon  more  than  two  billions  of  bonds  than  the  Morgan 
syndicate  cleared  in  this  one  secret  bargain;  that  the 
operation  of  the  "endless  chain"  drew  from  the  Treasury 
$31,907,221  in  gold  in  December,  1894,  and  $45,117,738 
in  January,  1895;  that,  according  to  Mr.  Cleveland's 
story  of  the  White  House  conference,  "He  [Mr.  Morgan] 
suddenly  asked  me  why  we  did  not  buy  $100,000,000 
in  gold  at  a  fixed  price  and  pay  for  it  in  bonds  under 
section  3700  of  the  Revised  Statutes";  that,  according 
to  the  same  account,  "the  position  of  Mr.  Morgan  was 
that  they  were  abundantly  able  not  only  to  furnish 
the  gold  we  needed,  but  to  protect  us  in  the  manner 
indicated  against  its  immediate  loss"  by  bond  specu- 
lators depleting  the  Treasury  of  gold  in  exchange  for  cur- 


THE    BOND    RING  137 

rency;  that  the  price  arranged  for  the  issue  was  $104.49, 
though  the  bonds  when  issued  rose  to  $119  1-8  within  five 
days;  that  the  syndicate  broke  its  promise  to  obtain  one- 
half  the  gold  abroad,  the  total  net  gold  imports  for  five 
months  being  only  $15,000,000;  that  the  new  syndicate 
which  The  World  smashed  in  January,  1896,  was  a  "  blind 
pool"  invited  by  a  private  circular  on  December  31st; 
that  Congress  debated  gravely  The  World's  exposure  of 
the  deal  and  its  offer  to  take  $1,000,000  of  the  bonds  on  a 
3-per-cent.  basis;  that  only  six  Senators  out  of  fifty-four 
voted  against  an  investigation  of  secret  bond  deals;  that 
in  smashing  the  ring  The  World  sent  out  10,370  telegrams, 
prepaying  answers;  that  the  5,300  replies  broke  the 
Western  Union  record  of  messages  in  one  day  forwarded 
to  any  person  or  corporation;  that  as  a  result  of  the 
offers  The  World  was  able  to  pledge  over  $235,000,000  in 
gold  for  the  bonds;  and  that  under  its  day-by-day  urgings 
the  sale  became  so  successful  that  more  than  half  a 
billion  dollars  were  offered  at  rates  averaging  nearly 
$112  instead  of  $104.49. 

There  were  no  more  secret  bond  bargains.  The  system 
was  broken.  On  February  6th,  the  day  after  the  bond 
sale,  The  World  said: 

The  public  loan  is  bid  for  nearly  six  times  over.  The  credit 
of  the  Government  is  maintained.  The  financial  independence 
of  the  Government  is  successfully  demonstrated.  The  confi- 
dence, the  resources  and  the  patriotism  of  the  people  are  splen- 
didly vindicated.  That  which  The  World  predicted  and  pro- 
claimed has  come  to  pass.  The  false  assumptions  of  a  scheming 
syndicate  and  the  baseless  claims  of  its  servants  and  sympa- 
thizers are  overthrown.  It  is  indeed  a  "famous  victory." 

Hard  upon  the  heels  of  the  Venezuela  flurry  and  the 
breaking  of  the  Bond  Ring  The  World  was  called  upon  to 
face  a  difficult  political  dilemma.  By  the  middle  of 

February  the  hopelessness  of  avoiding  a  fight  upon  the 
10 


138  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

silver  issue  became  apparent.  The  House  had  passed  for 
election  purposes  a  tariff  bill  which  the  Senate  tabled  by  a 
decisive  vote.  The  Senate,  in  turn,  had  passed  a  free- 
silver  bill  to  which  the  House  gave  a  quietus. 

On  February  25th  and  26th  the  silver  Republican  Sena- 
tors bolted  their  party,  giving  notice  "  with  two  demonstra- 
tions of  their  ability  to  carry  out  their  purpose,  that  they 
will  not  permit  even  the  consideration  of  any  tariff  legis- 
lation until  their  demand  for  free  silver  coinage  at  the 
ratio  of  sixteen  to  one  is  granted." 

In  consequence  of  this  state  of  affairs  in  Washington 
The  World  predicted  the  nomination  of  William  McKinley 
by  the  Republicans: 

The  bosses  are  already  beaten.  Quay,  Platt,  Clarkson, 
Manley,  Reed  and  the  rest  are  still  planning  and  bargaining 
and  arranging  trades,  but  the  masses  of  the  Republican  party 
have  taken  the  matter  out  of  their  hands,  and  in  spite  of  them 
McKinley  will  be  nominated — not  improbably  on  the  first 
ballot — perhaps  even  by  acclamation. 

The  bosses  are  beaten,  and  we  are  glad  of  it: 

1.  Because  it  is  always  well  for  the  people  to  beat  the  bosses. 

2.  Because  McKinley  is  the  only  Republican  candidate  who 
represents  a  principle  in  national  politics,  the  only  one  whose 
candidacy  will  mean  what  the  party  means,  the  only  one  whose 
candidacy  will  be  an  honest  reflection  of  the  party's  principles 
and  purposes. 

3.  Because  he  is  the  most  vulnerable  of  all  possible  Republi- 
can candidates.     His  nomination  will  put  directly  in  issue 
the  only  principle  or  policy  on  which  his  party  really  has  any 
conviction,  and  the  people  of  the  country  are  so  well  informed 
respecting  that  policy  and  so  hostile  to  it  that  a  campaign 
against  him  will  be  a  fight  in  the  open,  with  better  hope  of 
success  than  any  fight  under  cover  of  equivocations  could  offer. 

Breaking  a  precedent,  the  national  convention  of  the 
party  out  of  power  was  first  to  be  held.  This  gave  pre- 
cedence in  initiative  to  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men 


THE    BOND    RING  139 

that  have  arisen  in  American  politics.  Writing  at  a  later 
date,  when  Mark  Alonzo  Hanna's  achievement  was  known 
of  all  men,  The  World  described  his  methods,  and  forecast 
the  dangers  inherent  in  the  new  standards  he  set  for  party 
management : 

Mr.  Hanna  has  managed  McKinley's  campaign  from  the 
first  precisely  as  he  would  manage  any  other  business  enter- 
prise. There  are  men  who  make  a  business  of  politics.  Mark 
Hanna  has  made  politics  a  business.  If  he  were  to  undertake 
the  work  of  combining  forty-five  iron  foundries  in  a  trust  he 
would  pursue  substantially  the  same  methods  that  he  has 
employed  in  consolidating  into  an  irresistible  mass  the  Mc- 
Kinley  strength  in  forty-five  States.  The  same  tactics  that  he 
adopted  in  breaking  down  the  Sailors'  Union  on  the  great 
lakes  he  has  displayed  in  crushing  the  bosses'  combination 
against  McKinley.  .  .  . 

It  is  impossible  to  conceive  of  the  Democrats  or  the  Whigs 
of  forty  or  fifty  years  ago  submitting  the  direction  of  the 
Presidential  nomination  and  the  phrasing  of  the  platform  to 
the  "management"  of  a  rich  iron  contractor  who  had  never 
held  an  office,  made  a  speech,  written  a  line,  or  contributed  a 
political  idea  toward  the  government  of  the  country. 

Is  Hanna  more  than  a  passing  episode?  Has  the  new  style 
of  management  in  national  politics  come  to  stay?  Are  the 
multi-millionaires  who  have  substituted  monopoly  for  compe- 
tition in  business  to  apply  their  method  and  their  money 
directly  to  politics,  acting  in  person  instead  of  through  agents, 
as  heretofore? 

New  York  had  a  candidate  for  the  Republican  nomina- 
tion, Levi  P.  Morton.  It  had  had  a  more  amazing  one 
when,  eight  years  earlier,  it  had  cast  its  votes  and  those 
of  recruits  from  other  states  for  Chauncey  M.  Depew. 
A  man  of  another  stamp  was  pressed  by  New  England 
delegates  in  Thomas  B.  Reed — "Czar  Reed"  of  the 
Speakership  quarrel,  a  big,  broad-gauge  man  of  fine 
brain  and  mordant  humor,  a  tariff  Republican  of  the  old 


140  THE    STORY   OF   A   PAGE 

school,  but  no  puppet  of  trusts.  Morton  was,  as  The 
World  phrased  it, ' '  merely  a  courtesy  candidate. ' '  For  the 
rest,  it  again  remarked  on  March  25th  that  "McKinley 
and  Reed  are  the  only  real  candidates,  and  McKinley  will 
be  nominated  on  the  first  ballot. " 

The  World  was  an  independent  Democratic  paper. 
It  had  given  many  proofs  of  its  independence,  but  in 
national  affairs  it  desired  the  success  of  the  party  from 
which  alone  a  sane  tariff  might  be  expected.  So  late 
as  the  meeting  of  the  Republican  national  convention 
it  still  hoped  against  hope  that  Democracy  might  be 
saved  from  free  silver  as  by  a  miracle  of  grace  and  win 
a  national  triumph  under  the  banners  of  tariff  reform  and 
honest  money.  If  that  were  impossible,  the  best  it  could 
hope  was  that  both  parties  would  compromise  upon  silver 
to  tempt  back  alienated  votes  and  retain  the  wavering, 
and  that  delay  until  the  panic  should  be  past  might  save 
the  situation. 

For  once,  therefore,  it  departed  from  its  rule  of  desiring 
the  candidates  and  platforms  of  both  parties  to  be  on  as 
high  a  level  as  possible,  and  rejoiced  in  McKinley 's  own 
shakiness  upon  the  silver  issue.  Shaky  he  was,  probably 
confused  as  to  the  right,  certainly  cautious  of  offending 
silver  voters.  As  recently  as  the  27th  of  October,  1890, 
he  had  made  this  formal  profession  of  faith:  "I  am  in 
favor  of  the  use  of  all  the  silver  product  of  the  United 
States  for  money  as  circulating  medium.  I  would  have 
silver  and  gold  alike." 

Hanna  caused  to  be  inserted  in  the  Ohio  Republican 
platform  a  "straddle"  resolution,  approved  by  McKinley, 
demanding  "the  use  of  both  gold  and  silver  as  standard 
money"  under  restrictions  "to  be  determined  by  legis- 
lation" if  international  consent  could  not  be  had.  This 
was  supposed  to  blaze  the  path  the  greater  convention 
would  tread  in  June,  but  before  that  month  Democratic 
state  conventions  in  the  West  had  adopted  such  an 


THE    BOND    RING  141 

extreme  attitude  upon  silver  as  to  make  it  unlikely  that 
a  straddle  resolution  would  hold  many  ardent  silverites. 
In  the  reverse  direction  Eastern  Republican  and  Demo- 
cratic conventions  alike  were  taking  pronounced  stand 
for  honest  money.  The  breach  was  widening;  the  parties 
were  realigning  upon  the  new  issue. 

Whatever  lingering  doubts  Hanna  may  have  had  were 
dispelled,  when  the  convention  met,  by  Platt  and  others 
from  the  East;  and  when  McKinley  was  named  for  Presi- 
dent upon  the  first  ballot  a  platform  had  already  been 
adopted  pledging  the  party  "  unreservedly  for  sound 
money"  and  specifying  its  opposition  "to  the  free  coinage 
of  silver  except  by  international  agreement  with  the 
leading  commercial  nations  of  the  world." 

What  would  Democracy  do? 

It  was  a  question  bristling  with  difficulties.  The 
World's  proprietor  in  1884  had  seen  the  chief  Democratic 
paper  in  New  York  dragged  down  in  three  months  from 
its  high  place  for  opposing  the  candidate  of  its  party  in 
a  national  election,  vacating  the  leadership  which  The 
World  occupied.  That  was  the  material  side  of  the 
problem.  There  was  also  the  paramount  study  of  public 
benefit.  Democracy  meant,  or  should  mean,  tariff 
reform.  It  meant,  or  should  mean,  the  purifying  of 
election  machinery  from  corruption.  Except  in  the  city 
of  New  York  the  men  in  control  of  the  Democratic  party 
were  more  favorable  than  their  adversaries  to  the  reforms 
The  World  had  at  heart.  Democracy  held  its  briefs  for 
equal  opportunity  and  the  downfall  of  privilege.  Its 
name  spelled  progress.  Was  all  this  pressing,  vital  work 
of  reform,  of  which  a  constitutional  tariff  was  only  the 
beginning,  to  be  indefinitely  postponed?  Were  the  trusts 
and  monopolies  to  gain  out  of  a  new  lease  of  life  the 
opportunity  for  fresh  exactions,  while  the  Democratic 
Quixote  was  tilting  at  windmills? 

To  such  a  question  there  could  be  but  one  answer. 


142  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

"Come  what  may,  the  first  duty  of  The  World  is  to  fight 
and  slay  the  dragon.  To  save  the  public  credit,  the  public 
honor,  the  public  fame — that  is  the  instant  need.  Later 
there  will  be  opportunities  to  promote  the  reforms  for 
which  the  Democracy  in  its  pure  estate  has  the  mandate 
and  of  which  democracy  has  need." 


XI 

FREE  SILVER 

1896 

Fiat  Money  in  Previous  Elections — Demonetization,  "The  Crime  of  '73"— 
Fall  in  Value  of  Silver  Due  to  Increased  Production  —  The  Quantity 
Theory  of  Money — Why  a  Third  Term  for  Cleveland  Was  Impossible — - 
Republican  Party  Hesitant  Upon  Silver  Until  the  Eve  of  the  Convention — 
The  Ohio  McKinley  Straddle— William  J.  Bryan's  "Cross  of  Gold"  Speech 
and  His  Nomination — "The  World's "  Good-matured  Campaign — Rising 
Price  of  Wheat  Confutes  the  Silver  Argument — Senator  Platt  and  the 
Tammany  Victory  of  1897. 

WAS  there  danger  that  free  silver  might  prevail? 

By  all  rules  of  political  analogy,  yes.  The  alarm  of 
business  men  in  the  summer  of  1896  was  justified. 

It  needed  no  long  memory  to  recall  what  had  happened 
in  previous  periods  of  shrinking  prosperity  through  oppo- 
sition to  the  resumption  of  specie  payment.  In  1878  a 
Greenback  ticket  received  55,000  votes  in  Texas  and 
39,448  in  Indiana.  In  1880  Gen.  James  B.  Weaver, 
Greenback  candidate  for  President,  had  307,306  votes,  and 
a  Fusion  Greenback  Governor  of  Maine  was  elected. 
In  1882  a  Greenback  candidate  for  Governor  of  Kansas 
polled  20,989  votes.  A  Democratic-Greenback  Fusion 
movement  carried  Michigan  three  of  the  first  five  years 
of  that  decade.  In  1892  General  Weaver  had  22  electoral 
votes  and  1,041,028  popular  votes  on  a  People's  party 
ticket. 

These  movements,  which  won  the  suffrages  of  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  honest  men,  contemplated  "fiat  money.7' 
The  name  was  not  with  their  partisans  a  reproach.  They 


144  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

could  see  little  difference  between  the  government  die- 
mark  on  a  coin  and  its  stamp  on  a  paper  promise  to 
pay. 

Free  silver  made  a  higher  intellectual  appeal.  The 
silver  dollar  was  a  historic  fact.  The  "  crime  of  1873" 
had  demonetized  silver  only  to  the  extent  of  forbidding 
the  coinage  of  dollars  which  had  not  in  fact  been  coined 
because  silver  had  been  too  dear.  But  until  1873  the 
silver  dollar  had  been  legal.  After  that  year,  because  of 
the  very  rapid  increase  in  silver  production,  the  market 
price  fell  rapidly.  Under  the  Bland-Allison  Act  coinage 
was  resumed  in  1878  at  the  rate  of  two  million  dollars  a 
month.  In  1890  the  sound-money  men  in  Congress,  to 
head  off  free  coinage,  agreed  to  the  Sherman  compromise 
which  committed  the  Treasury  to  buy  four  million  five 
hundred  thousand  ounces  of  silver  bullion  a  month.  Only 
under  pressure  of  the  1893  panic  and  by  Mr.  Cleveland's 
"  patriotic  unscrupulousness "  in  the  use  of  patronage 
was  this  purchase  act  finally  repealed. 

In  July,  1893,  The  World  thus  stated  the  history  of  the 
case: 

The  coinage  law  of  1792  authorized  the  unrestricted 
coinage  of  gold  and  silver  at  the  ratio  of  1  to  15.  The  ratio 
was  changed  by  the  acts  of  1834  and  1837  to  1  to  16.  Silver 
was  demonetized  in  1873  because  it  was  dearer  than  gold.  .  .  . 

In  1792,  when  the  United  States  fixed  the  ratio  of  1  to  15, 
an  ounce  of  gold  was  worth  15.17  ounces  of  silver — more  than 
the  legal  ratio.  In  1834  the  true  ratio  was  1  to  15.73 — less 
than  the  legal  ratio  of  1  to  16;  in  1837  it  was  1  to  15.83. 

The  ratio  kept  changing,  but  all  the  time  a  silver  dollar  was 
worth  more  than  a  gold  dollar.  ...  In  1873,  when  silver  was 
demonetized,  it  was  still  too  dear  for  the  established  ratio, 
the  true  ratio  being  1  to  15.92.  The  next  year  it  was  1  to 
16.17,  and  the  silver  dollar  was  cheaper  than  gold.  In  1878 
what  is  falsely  called  the  Bland  law  was  passed,  but  the  price 
of  silver  continued  to  fall,  the  true  ratio  in  1879  being  1  to 
18.40,  The  act  of  1890,  known  as  the  Sherman  act,  did  not 


FREE    SILVER  145 

arrest  the  downward  progress  of  silver.     In   1891  the  true 
ratio  was  1  to  20.92,  and  now  it  is  1  to  nearly  22. 

It  was  the  contention  of  the  free-silver  men  that  we 
should  coin  silver  bullion  at  any  man's  call  at  the  ratio  of 
sixteen  to  one.  This  would  have  meant  a  new  inflation,  a 
new  era  of  wild  speculation,  a  new  gold  premium.  That 
it  would  have  meant  a  partial  remission  of  debts  was 
understood  and  approved  by  the  silver  men.  They 
argued  that  men  who  had  borrowed  money  previous  to 
1879  were  burdened  by  the  resumption  of  specie  payments 
with  a  heavier  debt,  measured  in  commodities,  than  they 
had  assumed.  This  hardship  was  a  natural  sequel  to 
the  war,  to  vast  borrowings,  to  inflation,  and  to  the 
recovery.  Many  who  would  have  admitted  this  held 
that  in  demonetizing  silver,  in  "  walking  upon  one  leg," 
we  were  burdening  debtors  and  creating  a  gold  famine  by 
overuse  of  the  dearer  metal.  They  attributed  solely  to 
demonetization  the  sensational  fall  in  the  price  of  silver 
poured  from  the  Bonanza  mines. 

Defenders  of  the  gold  standard  trod  dangerous  ground 
when  they  assailed  the  quantity  theory  of  money,  on 
which  the  silver  men  relied:  the  theory  that  prices  rise 
and  fall  in  inverse  proportion  to  the  money  in  circulation. 
Denounced,  then,  by  most  American  statesmen  and 
nearly  every  American  economist,  this  theory  is  now  gen- 
erally accepted;  gold  and  credit  inflation  is  laden  with 
much  of  the  blame  for  the  high  cost  of  living.  In  The 
Purchasing  Power  of  Money  Professor  Irving  Fisher,  of 
Yale,  has  sought  to  reduce  to  a  mathematical  formula 
the  relation  of  circulating  medium  and  instruments  of 
credit  to  prices.  Indeed,  the  present  tendency  seems  to 
be  to  load  upon  inflation  too  great  a  share  of  the  effect  of 
many  and  complex  causes. 

Prices  of  products  had  fallen  after  the  demonetization 
of  silver;  the  peasants  of  Germany  and  France  were  as 


146  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

well  aware  of  that  fact  as  the  farmers  of  the  United  States. 
Self-interest  and  local  feeling  raised  the  silver  agitation 
to  boiling-point  in  the  West,  where  wheat  was  grown  and 
silver  mined.  Governor  Waite  of  Colorado,  an  honest 
man  and  executive  whom  the  East  pictured  as  a  monster, 
had  said  the  people  would  "ride  in  blood  to  their  horses' 
bridles"  rather  than  submit  to  Wall  Street  dictation  on 
silver.  In  some  Western  states  to  doubt  the  wisdom  of 
free  coinage  was  to  be  a  marked  man. 

Had  there  been  a  fair  chance  of  securing  through  the 
Republican  organization  laws  to  check  corruption  and  a 
tariff  not  too  predatory  The  World  would  have  been  ready 
to  follow  McKinley  with  less  misgiving.  As  it  was,  its 
efforts  were  bent  upon  seeking  to  delay  the  crisis.  In 
its  anxiety  to  strengthen  the  sound-money  cause  it  had 
coquetted  with  the  third  term,  and  had  said  that  "There 
is  nothing  either  in  the  Constitution  or  in  history  to  forbid 
a  third  term  for  any  President." 

But  Cleveland  had  split  his  party.  It  was  not  alone 
because  he  would  have  represented  the  sound-money  fac- 
tion that  Democrats  would  have  none  of  him.  Nemesis 
was  upon  his  trail,  as  she  is  wont  to  be  with  those  who  do 
wrong  that  right  may  follow.  In  toling  Congress  with 
patronage  to  halt  silver  coinage  Cleveland  had  waked 
the  spirit  of  faction.  However  praiseworthy  his  motives, 
his  patronage  bargains  had  roused  in  every  state  the  anger 
of  powerful  anti-administration  groups  who  in  many  cases 
cared  less  for  free  silver  than  they  did  for  rebuking  the 
President.  Mr.  Cleveland  had  done  his  work  but  he 
had  closed  his  own  political  career. 

So  when  in  June  the  Republican  platform  gave  notice 
that  the  party  would  no  longer,  in  Chairman  Carter's 
phrase,  "plow  round  the  silver  stump"  nothing  could 
stem  the  inflation  onslaught  at  Chicago.  The  Sound- 
money  Democrats  had  the  National  Committee,  and 
when  the  convention  met  on  July  7th  nominated  Senator 


FREE    SILVER  147 

Hill  of  New  York  for  chairman.  The  convention  by 
556  to  349  rejected  Hill  and  chose  Senator  Daniel  of 
Virginia.  By  628  to  301  it  adopted  a  platform  declaring 
for  "free  and  unlimited  coinage  of  both  silver  and  gold" 
at  sixteen  to  one  without  waiting  for  the  "  consent  of  any 
other  nation." 

Another  plank  criticized  the  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court  on  the  income  tax.  Another  denounced  "  arbitrary 
interference  by  federal  authorities  in  local  affairs,"  a  re- 
buke to  President  Cleveland  for  sending  soldiers  to 
Chicago  during  the  Pullman  strike.  Another  decried 
national-bank  currency. 

In  the  debate  upon  this  platform  a  picturesque  incident 
occurred  that  was  to  give  to  the  cause  of  free  silver, 
which  had  already  so  many  elements  of  strength,  one  of 
the  great  public  leaders  of  American  history. 

William  Jennings  Bryan,  a  member  of  Congress,  1891- 
96,  and  in  1896  an  editor  in  Omaha,  was  one  year  past  the 
age  of  thirty-five,  which  an  American  President  must 
have  attained,  when  the  Democratic  convention  met  in 
Chicago.  He  was  a  member  of  a  contested  delegation 
representing  the  silver  men  in  Nebraska,  and  his  delega- 
tion was  admitted  by  the  convention. 

There  are  three  or  four  speeches  in  American  history 
which  by  phrase  or  circumstance  have  left  an  unusual 
impress  upon  the  imagination.  In  the  Virginia  Legisla- 
ture, and  again  in  the  Continental  Congress,  Patrick 
Henry  uttered  an  unforgotten  sentence.  Half  a  sentence 
by  John  Adams  lives  in  most  men's  memories.  What 
Webster's  reply  to  Hayne  was  many  know  in  effect, 
though  few  can  quote  it.  Lincoln's  address  at  Gettys- 
burg is  an  inspiration  to  patriotism.  But  has  any 
other  speech  delivered  upon  New  World  soil  ever  had 
such  an  effect  upon  events  as  that  of  Mr.  Bryan  in  the 
vast  auditorium  in  Chicago  during  the  debate  upon  the 
silver  plank — that  speech  which  closed,  "You  shall  not 


148  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

press  down  upon  the  brow  of  labor  this  crown  of  thorns; 
you  shall  not  crucify  mankind  upon  a  cross  of  gold"? 

It  may  become  legendary  that  the  speech  stampeded 
the  convention.  This  was  not  the  case.  No  nomination 
was  made  until  the  following  day;  even  then  five  ballots 
were  necessary.  But  on  the  first  ballot  the  hero  of  the 
"cross  of  gold"  was  second  only  to  Richard  P.  Bland,  the 
putative  author  of  the  silver  bill  of  1878.  Votes  were  also 
cast  for  Governor  Pattison  of  Pennsylvania;  Governor 
Blackburn  of  Kentucky;  Governor  Boies,  of  Iowa; 
John  R.  McLean,  of  Ohio;  Claude  Matthews;  Benjamin 
R.  Tillman,  of  South  Carolina;  William  E.  Russell,  of 
Massachusetts;  Governor  Pennoyer  of  Oregon;  and 
David  B.  Hill.  When  after  the  fifth  ballot  Bryan  lacked 
twelve  votes  of  a  two-thirds  majority  the  other  silver 
delegates  swung  to  him  and  the  nomination  was  made. 
In  the  search  for  a  wealthy  man  as  running-mate  John 
R.  McLean  led  for  four  ballots,  but  the  choice  fell  upon 
Arthur  Sewall,  of  Maine. 

The  Silver  party,  now  of  small  consequence,  nominated 
Bryan  and  Sewall;  the  Populists,  Bryan  and  Thomas  E. 
Watson,  of  Georgia. 

With  the  glamour  of  his  sudden  upspring,  his  spotless 
reputation,  his  youth,  his  beauty,  his  earnestness,  his 
wonderful  voice,  his  power  of  swaying  assemblies,  Mr. 
Bryan  was  the  strongest  candidate  the  Silver  Democracy 
could  have  named. 

The  Gold  Democrats  met  in  Indianapolis  on  September 
2d,  adopted  the  name  of  the  National  Democratic  party, 
and,  after  the  refusal  of  their  nomination  by  General 
Bragg,  of  Wisconsin,  put  Palmer  and  Buckner  in  the 
field.  In  the  choice  The  World  was  now  forced  to  make  it 
was  not  alone,  and  deserves  no  especial  credit  among 
Eastern  Democratic  journals.  What  did  single  it  out  in 
effectiveness  was  the  vigor  and  moderation  of  its  campaign 
and  the  numbers  to  whom  its  economic  teachings  brought 


FREE    SILVER  149 

conviction.    As  Colonel  A.   K.   McClure  says  in    Our 
Presidents  and  How  We  Make  Them: 

A  number  of  the  leading  newspapers  of  the  country  which  had 
supported  Cleveland  in  his  three  contests  repudiated  the  Chicago 
platform  and  its  candidate,  and  they  stood  in  the  forefront  of  American 
journalism.  .  .  .  Not  one  of  them  ever  had  conference  or  communica- 
tion with  the  McKinley  leaders,  or  received  or  proposed  any  terms 
for  their  support,  or  ever  sought,  accepted,  or  desired  favors  from  the 
McKinley  administration.  Some  of  them  suffered  pecuniary  sacrifice, 
but  they  performed  a  heroic  duty,  and  it  was  the  inspiration  they 
gave  to  the  conservative  Democratic  sentiment  of  the  country  that 
made  McKinley  President  by  an  overwhelming  majority. 

In  reviewing  the  campaign  of  The  World  one  is  struck 
by  its  good  nature.  It  did  not  bandy  epithets.  It  did 
not  say  the  silver  leaders  were  scoundrels  or  brand  six 
million  voters  as  thieves.  It  conducted  a  campaign  of 
education,  and  it  foresaw  the  rout  that  would  follow. 
"The  World  has  warned  Democrats/7  it  said,  "that  the 
adoption  of  the  free-silver  heresy  would  be  suicide." 
But  "parties  may  commit  suicide  for  a  year,  for  two  or 
four  years.  The  duration  of  the  suspended  animation  of 
the  Democratic  party  will  depend  in  some  measure  upon 
its  canvass,  but  more  upon  the  spirit  in  which  it  shall  accept 
the  discipline  of  defeat."  Chiding  later  a  too  zealous  ally, 
it  describes  a  better  plan  for  the  contest,  the  plan  that 
would  leave  fewest  wounds  and  soonest  lead  back  to 
union : 

[The  Silverites'}  outbreak  is  a  craze,  a  species  of  hysteria, 
but  there  may  be  lunacy  and  hysteria  displayed  in  abusing 
them,  as  our  contemporary  is  demonstrating  by  example. 

Let  us  trust  the  people.  Let  us  reason  with  them  and  teach 
them.  There  remain  over  a  hundred  days  before  election. 

In  its  educational  campaign  the  most  straightforward 
methods  were  used  by  The  World.  Such  was  the  "  Shorter 
Silver  Catechism,"  in  method  as  follows: 


150  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

Q.  What  silver-standard  countries  have  free  coinage? 
A.  Not  one.  There  is  not  in  all  the  world  a  mint  open  to  the 
free  coinage  of  silver  at  any  ratio. 

Q.  Does  not  Mexico  coin  all  silver  brought  to  her  mints? 
A.  Yes;  but  she  charges  $4.41  for  each  one  hundred  coins,  and 
the  coinage  is  at  16.51  to  1,  so  that  she  recoins  European  silver 
at  a  cost  to  the  holder  of  about  10  per  cent.,  and  American 
silver  at  a  cost  of  7  per  cent.  [Mexico  is  now  practically  on  a 
gold  basis.] 

Q.  Does  not  India  coin  free  silver?  A.  No.  The  mint  was 
closed  three  years  ago. 

Q.  Does  not  Japan  coin  free?  A.  No.  The  mint  closed 
some  years  ago.  It  coins  subsidiary  silver  on  Government 
account,  as  all  mints  do. 

Perhaps  The  World  deserved  some  gratitude  from 
Republicans  who  were  almost  by  accident  the  directors 
of  the  honest-money  fight.  It  asked  nothing  except  upon 
public  grounds.  It  demanded  of  these  leaders,  "  Do  they 
lack  the  discretion  or  the  power  to  keep  Hanna,  with  his 
money-bags,  his  fat-friers,  and  his  professional  corrup- 
tionists,  out  of  sight?"  It  urged  Mr.  McKinley  to  take 
an  advanced  stand  upon  the  trust  question,  to  make  more 
endurable  his  necessary  election.  It  rebuked  him  when 
he  spoke  of  Matt  Quay  as  "that  distinguished  leader  and 
unrivaled  Republican  organizer  whose  devotion  to  Re- 
publicanism has  never  wavered." 

Odd  as  the  fact  may  appear  now,  Mr.  McKinley  and 
Mark  Hanna  had  planned  to  make  the  campaign  chiefly 
upon  the  tariff.  They  had  so  thoroughly  assimilated  the 
lesson  of  the  Democratic  defeat  of  1894  that  they  did 
not  at  first  realize  how  much  more  potent  an  issue  fate 
had  thrust  into  their  reluctant  hands.  Mr.  Bryan  put 
the  country  under  an  obligation,  he  performed  a  public 
service  quite  other  than  he  intended,  when  he  made  the 
silver  issue  prominent  and  thus  opened  the  way  for  its 
decisive  settlement.  Tariff  reformer  as  he  was,  in  his 


FREE    SILVER  151 

first  speech  in  the  " enemy's  country"  of  New  York  he 
made  no  reference  to  the  tariff  but  insisted  upon  the  issue 
of  free  coinage.  In  August  The  World  told  him: 

You  can  be  elected  if  you  will  give  sound  reasons  convincing 
the  country  that  you  stand  for  law  and  order,  and  that  there 
is  no  occasion  to  fear  precipitate,  radical,  and  wholly  experi- 
mental action  upon  the  currency  as  the  result  of  your  success, 
and  at  the  same  time  pledge  yourself  to  enforce  the  anti-trust 
laws,  to  secure  their  amendment  wherein  they  are  deficient, 
and  to  use  all  the  power  of  the  executive  office  to  protect  the 
people  from  the  injustice  and  wrongs  from  which  they  now 
suffer. 

Mr.  Bryan  could  see  little  but  the  silver  question.  The 
World  labored  to  get  him  upon  firmer  fighting-ground 
with  the  tariff  and  the  trusts.  It  reminded  him  that  there 
were  in  New  York  [1,732,382  depositors  in  savings- 
banks,  or  130,000  more  than  its  voters  at  the  last  Presi- 
dential election,  and  asked  how  they  would  like  the 
"free  -  silver  attitude  toward  their  savings."  It  ap- 
plauded John  Boyd  Thacher  when,  nominated  for  Gov- 
ernor by  the  Democratic  state  convention,  he  refused  to 
run  as  a  candidate  of  a  repudiation  party;  but  it  advised 
him  that  he  could  make  his  protest  stronger  by  staying  on 
the  ticket  and  "  standing  by  his  honest  repudiation  of  the 
repudiators  of  Democracy." 

Six  weeks  before  election  it  seemed  any  man's  race. 
Republican  victories  in  Maine  and  Vermont  in  the  early 
elections  gave  the  sound-money  men  assurances  of  success. 
But  a  circumstance  more  potent  for  victory  was  a  gradual 
lightening  of  the  commercial  skies  with  growing  prices 
for  produce.  The  most  telling  proof  of  this  was  thus 
noted  on  October  18th:  "A  month  ago  wheat  was  worth 
sixty-four  cents  in  New  York.  Yesterday  it  was  worth 
eighty-two  cents."  Silver  continued  to  decline.  Wheat 
in  a  month  had  advanced  twenty-eight  per  cent. ;  far  off 


152  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

and  faint  the  hard-pressed  farmer  began  to  see  glimmering 
daylight. 

Mr.  Bryan  received  the  greatest  vote  ever  cast  for  a 
Democrat.  Six  and  a  half  million  men  supported  him 
to  the  last;  yet  McKinley's  majority  was  more  than 
six  hundred  thousand  votes  at  the  polls  and  ninety-five 
in  the  electoral  college.  What  the  victory  involved, 
what  their  dilemma  had  meant  to  independent  Democrats, 
The  World  thus  recounted: 

It  was  a  terrible  choice  for  Democrats.  On  one  side  the  regu- 
lar ticket  of  their  party,  on  a  platform  undemocratic  in  almost 
every  plank,  and  dangerous  and  dishonest  in  many,  but  repre- 
senting a  recognition  of  some  very  real  grievances  and  wrongs 
of  the  people.  On  the  other  side  was  a  candidate  embodying 
in  an  odious  degree  the  policy  of  protection  for  bounties  and 
a  tariff  for  trusts,  and  of  reckless  extravagance  in  the  public 
expenditures.  But  feeling  that  the  honor  and  credit  of  the 
nation,  the  independence  of  its  judiciary,  and  the  supremacy 
of  the  national  authority  were  issues  of  vital  importance,  lifting 
the  contest  far  above  the  plane  of  party  contention,  these 
patriotic  Democrats  threw  their  votes  on  the  side  of  their 
country. 

To  this  thought  The  World  often  returned.  On  No- 
vember 19th  it  noted  that  Carl  Schurz  and  William  L. 
Wilson  had  on  the  same  day  "felt  it  incumbent  upon 
them  to  deliver  to  the  country  the  same  strenuous  message 
of  counsel  and  warning."  They  had  warned  the  people 
that  "  behind  the  late  outbreak  of  Populism  there  was  a 
cause  deeper  than  any  reckless  whim,  more  earnest  than 
a  mere  desire  for  change."  There  were  "real  wrongs, 
real  grievances,  real  oppressions  to  be  righted." 

It  was  in  part  because  of  this  sympathetic  treatment  of 
the  issues  that  The  World  could  say  of  its  own  course, 
"  never  before  in  a  Presidential  campaign  had  the  leading 
newspaper  of  either  party  declined  to  support  the  ticket 


FREE    SILVER  153 

and  platform  presented  by  the  politicians,  not  only  with- 
out loss  of  power  and  prestige,  but  actually  with  a  gain  in 
both." 

But  only  at  fearful  public  cost  had  silver  been  defeated. 
Mark  Hanna's  campaign  of  debauchery  had  passed  all 
limits.  What  Senator  Thomas  C.  Platt  much  later  called 
"moral  obligations"  had  been  assumed  toward  illegal 
corporations  that  hampered  the  government  for  years. 
In  New  York  Frank  Black  rode  into  office  upon  the 
shoulders  of  McKinley,  a  bright,  shrewd  man  with  a 
cynical  conception  of  public  morals,  who  as  Governor 
angered  the  state  by  naming  Lou  Payn,  "a  notorious, 
confessed  and  branded  lobbyist,"  as  superintendent  of 
insurance,  and  by  announcing  that  the  civil-service  law 
would  "work  better  with  less  starch/'  but  who  was 
dropped  by  Platt  after  a  single  term. 

With  a  Republican  administration  the  plans  of  Blaine 
and  Harrison  for  the  annexation  of  Hawaii  were  revived, 
and  The  World  found  itself  in  1897  engaged  in  a  desperate 
fight  against  "leprosy  and  loot."  "Do  we  really  need  to 
go  fifty-six  hundred  miles  away  for  another  rotten 
borough?"  it  asked.  "Have  we  not  difficulties  enough  in 
assimilating  our  immense  immigration  from  every  quarter 
of  the  globe  without  taking  in  the  mongrel  population  of 
this  remote  island  in  the  Pacific?" 

The  annexation  movement  justified  criticism.  The 
sugar  barons  were  interested  in  getting  inside  the  tariff 
barriers  against  then-  plantations  in  the  islands.  John 
Sherman  was  placed  in  the  State  Department  with 
President  McKinley's  law  partner,  William  R.  Day,  as 
his  assistant  secretary  and  the  real  power.  Sherman  was 
won  over  to  annexation  by  the  pretense  that  Japan,  not 
then  Russia's  conqueror  or  a  naval  power,  was  about  to 
seize  the  group.  Senator  Hoar,  "who  has  the  courage 
to  refuse  to  dishonor  himself  at  the  bidding  of  the  leprous 
Administration  Hawaiian  Ring,"  introduced  a  protest 


154  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

against  annexation  signed  by  21,869  native  Hawaiians. 
The  traders  and  missionaries'  sons  who  made  up  the 
provisional  government,  of  which  Sanford  B.  Dole  was 
president,  had  no  notion  of  a  republican  form  of  govern- 
ment, and  admitted  less  than  four  thousand  men  to  the 
vote.  Yet  it  was  in  vain  for  The  World  to  protest  in  the 
words  of  Jefferson  to  Madison  that  "  no  thing  should  ever 
be  accepted  which  would  require  a  navy  to  defend  it,"  or 
to  denounce  the  obliquity  of  a  republic  ruling  other  men 
without  those  other  men's  consent.  Before  annexation 
came  to  a  decision  in  Congress  we  were  in  the  midst  of  the 
Spanish  war,  opposition  would  have  been  quixotic,  and 
the  job  went  through  almost  without  protest. 

The  enactment  of  a  new  tariff  of  excessive  protection 
was  another  blow  the  country  sustained  by  the  surrender 
of  Democracy  to  free  silver.  The  election  of  1896  had 
of  course  retained  the  House  of  Representatives  in  full 
control  of  the  Republicans;  it  had  given  them  just  short 
of  a  majority  in  the  Senate,  but  enough  of  the  considerable 
third-party  contingent — Populists  and  independent  silver 
men — were  in  sympathy  with  their  tariff  views  to  make 
their  course  clear.  A  tariff  bill  had  been  practically 
framed  by  the  Republican  Ways  and  Means  Committee 
before  the  administration  was  changed  on  March  4,  1897, 
and  at  the  special  session  which  soon  assembled  for  the 
purpose  the  Dingley  bill  was  passed. 

"Of  course,"  said  The  World,  "there  is  the  rational  way 
out — namely,  to  let  the  tariff  alone  and  raise  the  needed 
extra  revenue  by  imposing  additional  taxes  on  beer,  and 
some  revenue  imposts  upon  bank-checks,  title-deeds  and 
like  agencies  for  the  transfer  of  wealth" — exactly  what 
was  done  the  following  year.  But,  "elected  to  power 
by  the  aid  of  Democratic  votes  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
conserving  the  financial  integrity  of  the  nation,"  Congress 
devoted  itself  to  "the  framing  of  a  tariff  for  robbery 
chiefly."  Yet  The  World  foresaw  the  success  of  the 


FREE    SILVER  155 

undertaking,  even  with  a  narrowly  divided  Senate.  Here 
was  one  of  the  remaining  disservices  which  the  silver 
agitation  in  its  decadence  could  do  the  country: 

Even  with  the  vote  of  the  Sugar  Democrat,  McEnery,  the 
Republicans  are  in  a  minority  of  one. 

Why,  then,  will  [the  Dingley  bill]  pass  the  Senate? 

First — Because  some  of  the  Silver  party  and  Populist  oppo- 
nents of  the  bill  believe  that  by  letting  the  Republicans  alone 
they  will  make  political  capital  for  "16  to  1"  in  1898  and  1900. 

Second — Because1  the  direct  personal  agents  of  the  Silver 
Trust  are  voting  for  the  bill.  These  agents  hold  the  balance 
of  power.  They  make  opposition  useless. 

These  two  reasons  for  the  coming  carnival  of  plunder  are  at 
bottom  one — silver. 

If  the  monopolists  who  swung  the  Republican  party 
were  prompt  to  take  their  fees  in  the  Dingley  bill  it  was 
left  to  one  of  their  agents,  Senator  Platt  of  New  York, 
to  work  a  mischief  to  the  metropolis  which  gave  The 
World  the  opportunity  for  the  hardest  hitting  it  had  done 
in  a  political  campaign  since  1892. 

The  Act  of  Consolidation  of  Greater  New  York,  which 
owed  much  to  The  World's  advocacy  and  which  both 
Boss  Platt  and  Boss  Croker  had  delayed  as  long  as  they 
dared,  had  passed;  the  charter  was  enacted  early  in  1897, 
and  the  first  election  was  to  take  place  in  November. 
Brooklyn  and  old  New  York  had  Republican  mayors. 
Assuming  that  the  party,  with  the  prestige  of  its  enmity 
to  free  silver,  would  hold  its  advantage,  the  Republican 
Legislature  had  arranged  for  the  new  Mayor  a  four- 
year  term  and  wide  powers.  Fusion  with  independent 
Democrats  was  expected,  and  it  was  supposed  that  the 
Republican  machine  would  accept  Seth  Low,  a  Republican 
who  had  been  Mayor  of  Brooklyn  for  two  terms  and  was 
now  president  of  Columbia  University. 

There  were  two  reasons — one  of  them  a  real  reason — 


156  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

why  Platt  was  not  enthusiastic  about  Mr.  Low.  The  real 
reason  was  that  he  could  not  control  him.  Another 
plausible  reason  was  that  in  1884  Mr.  Low  had  been 
unwilling  to  share  in  the  Elaine  campaign.  He  had  said 
that  the  Mayor  of  Brooklyn  had  no  vote,  and  that  Seth 
Low  would  vote  as  he  pleased.  He  did  vote  for  Elaine 
and  Logan,  but  he  was  not  sufficiently  convinced  of  the 
wisdom  of  Elaine's  election  to  take  part  in  the  campaign. 
Now,  with  the  citizens7  organizations  uniting  upon  Low, 
this  ancient  grievance  was  made  an  excuse  for  separate 
Republican  action.  Low  was  nominated;  Mr.  Platt 
preferred  defeat  with  a  " straight"  candidate  to  victory 
with  Low,  and  his  convention  put  up  Judge  Tracy,  a  law 
partner  of  Platt's  son. 

For  Tammany,  victory  with  three  candidates  would  be 
easy.  This  was  Croker's  position:  "The  man  I  name 
must  be,  first,  a  man  who  voted  for  Bryan  last  year. 
He  must  be  a  member  of  Tammany  Hall — a  regular 
member  of  that  organization.  He  must  be  a  regular 
machine  man,  and,  what  is  more,  a  man  whom  I  control." 
Nevertheless,  The  World,  true  to  its  rule  of  neglecting  no 
faintest  hope  of  serving  the  city,  begged  Croker  to  name 
a  "Democratic  Low,"  a  "reformer  who  has  done  things," 
the  man  who  helped  send  McKane  to  prison,  Judge 
Gaynor,  instead  of  "a  mere  puppet  of  the  boss." 

One  result  of  the  convention  was  amusing.  The  World 
had  offered  a  prize  for  any  person  who  could  name  in 
advance  Croker 's  candidate  for  Mayor.  The  day  after 
the  Tammany  city  convention  it  said:  "This  reward  has 
not  been  earned  by  anybody.  Among  the  multitudinous 
responses,  in  which  almost  every  possible  Tammany 
candidate  was  named,  there  was  not  one  which  held  the 
name  of  Judge  Robert  A.  Van  Wyck."  Judge  Van 
Wyck  was  to  this  extent  acceptable — he  was  unknown. 
He  was  not  conspicuous  enough  to  have  made  enemies. 
But  whatever  his  personal  qualities,  he  would  sit  in 


FREE    SILVER  157 

the  Mayor's  chair  as  the  representative  of  Richard 
Croker. 

A  seething  rage  took  possession  of  The  World.  After 
years  of  struggle  a  great  idealistic  plan  had  been  carried. 
A  city,  the  second  in  the  world  and  destined  to  be  first, 
had  been  set  up  in  the  new  continent.  A  liberal  charter 
had  been  provided.  The  eyes  of  the  world  were  upon 
it.  And  now  a  Republican  boss  and  a  Democratic  boss 
were  conspiring  to  turn  over  this  great  experiment  in 
self-government  to  be  smirched  and  well-nigh  ruined! 
Here  was  no  call  for  courtesy  of  phrase.  The  wrath  of 
The  World  flamed  in  a  series  of  appeals  to  the  people  to 
put 'away  the  shame  that  threatened. 

One  little  hope  there  was,  and  that  faded.  There  were 
in  the  field,  besides  Low,  Tracy,  and  Van  Wyck,  two  other 
candidates:  Mayor  "Big  Pat"  Gleason  of  Long  Island 
City,  a  picturesque  character  who  would  draw  local  sup- 
port, and  Henry  George.  Mr.  George  entered  the  cam- 
paign to  aid  Low  and  to  save  the  city.  He  overtaxed  his 
strength  and  on  the  eve  of  election  died.  To  him  The 
World  paid  sincere  tribute: 

He  died  as  he  lived.  He  died  a  hero's  death.  He  died  as 
he  would  have  wished  to  die — on  the  battle-field,  spending 
his  last  strength  in  a  blow  at  the  enemies  of  the  people. 

Liberty  has  lost  a  friend.     Democracy  has  lost  a  leader! 

Henry  George's  son,  then  thirty-five  years  old,  was 
nominated  to  succeed  his  father.  But  Democrats  by  the 
thousand  who  had  been  held  by  Henry  George  went  back 
to  Tammany.  The  great  city  was  put  in  Boss  Croker's 
hands  to  sink  to  a  depth  only  less  abysmal  than  that 
remembered  filth  of  Tweedism  which  had  given  the  classic 
measure  of  municipal  degradation. 

Van  Wyck  had  233,997  votes;  Low,  151,540,  on  a 
Citizens'  Union  ticket;  Tracy,  101,863;  George,  21,693. 


158  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

In  the  city  which  had  given  McKinley  more  than  sixty 
thousand  majority  the  previous  year  the  candidate  of 
his  party  was  a  weak  third.  In  the  state  which  had 
given  McKinley  268,000  majority  the  candidate  of  his 
party  for  judge  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  was  beaten  by 
more  than  sixty  thousand.  Small  comfort  was  there,  in 
this  evidence  of  the  wrath  of  the  independent  voter,  for 
New  York,  thrown  under  the  wheels  of  juggernaut. 


XII 

A  WAR   FOR  AN   IDEAL 

1898-1899 

What  Caused  the  War  ivith  Spain — "The  World"  as  a  Military  Critic — 
The  Firm  Friendship  of  Britain  in  the  Crisis — First  News  of  the  Battle 
of  Manila — The  Arrival  of  "The  Man  on  Horseback" — Theodore  Roosevelt 
and  Boss  Platt  — Forcing  the  Franchise  Tax — Ramapo  and  Rapid  Transit 
— Great  Britain  and  the  Boer  War— President  Kruger's  Appeal  to  "  The 
World" — Prompt  Protests  Against  Imperialism. 

IN  slavery  days  Southern  politicians  had  cast  longing 
eyes  upon  Cuba  for  the  reason  that  they  forced  the 
Mexican  war,  to  strengthen  the  political  power  of  the 
slave  states.  Cuba,  with  its  immense  sugar  plantations, 
was  the  last  considerable  stronghold  of  slavery  in  the 
New  World.  The  Spanish  authorities  had  ruled  the 
island  brutally,  corruptly,  and  in  disregard  of  native 
public  sentiment,  so  that  filibustering  expeditions  from 
the  United  States,  often  winked  at  by  the  government, 
were  welcomed.  In  Buchanan's  administration  the  Os- 
tend  Manifesto,  announced  in  London,  Paris,  and  Madrid 
by  American  ministers,  stated  that  if  Spain  would  not 
sell  Cuba  the  United  States  would  seize  it — a  policy  that 
might  have  been  carried  out  but  for  anticipated  protests 
by  other  nations. 

When  in  1895  a  new  rebellion  broke  out  and  when  the 
Spanish  authorities  fought  it  by  concentrado  there  was 
no  longer  any  question  of  the  slavery  interest.  There 
was  simply  a  feeling  that  it  was  time  for  Spain  to  leave 
the  continent.  The  war  desire  grew  gradually  for  years; 


160  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

with  the  blowing  up  of  the  Maine,  it  burst  into  sudden 
flame. 

Captain-General  Campos  as  early  as  November  1,  1895, 
had  cabled  his  government  that  "if  this  war  is  not  brought 
to  a  speedy  termination  by  granting  home  rule  to  Cuba 
the  United  States  will  surely  give  aid  to  the  insurgents 
and  espouse  their  cause  sooner  or  later."  By  the  be- 
ginning of  1896  Congress  was  discussing  the  recognition 
of  belligerent  rights  and  offering  Spain  our  "friendly 
offices"  for  the  composing  of  the  trouble.  In  February, 
1897,  The  World  was  asking  questions  like  these: 

How  long  is  the  peasantry  of  Spain  to  be  drafted  away  to 
Cuba,  to  die  miserably  in  a  hopeless  war,  that  Spanish  nobles 
and  Spanish  officers  may  get  medals  and  honors? 

How  long  shall  old  men  and  women  and  children  be  murdered 
by  the  score,  the  innocent  victims  of  Spanish  rage  against  the 
patriot  armies  they  cannot  conquer? 

How  long  shall  American  citizens,  arbitrarily  arrested  while 
on  peaceful  and  legitimate  errands,  be  immured  in  foul  Spanish 
prisons  without  trial? 

How  long  shall  the  navy  of  the  United  States  be  used  as 
the  sea-police  of  barbarous  Spain? 

Little  need  be  allowed  for  the  rhetoric  of  passion  in 
this  indictment;  it  was  true.  Spain's  policy  in  the 
New  World  was  medieval,  and  the  task  of  repressing 
overt  acts  of  American  sympathy  was  becoming  more 
and  more  difficult.  What  "reconcentration"  meant  The 
World  explained  on  May  16,  1897: 

The  President  sent  a  message  to  Congress  yesterday  asking 
for  $50,000  with  which  to  relieve  or  remove  starving  American 
citizens  [in  Cuba].  The  message  is  thoroughly  unsatisfactory. 
So  is  the  form  of  relief  proposed.  These  American  citizens 
own  plantations  or  work  upon  plantations  of  others.  On  these 
plantations  there  is  plenty  of  food.  But  the  military  despot 
who  rules  Cuba  will  not  let  these  Americans  live  upon  the 


A    WAR    FOR    AN    IDEAL  161 

plantations.  They  are  starving,  not  of  any  necessity,  but 
solely  by  Weyler 's  abhorrent  command.  He  has  compelled 
them  to  leave  their  homes  and  go  to  the  towns,  where  they 
have  no  bread- winning  employment.  .  .  . 

A  resolute  attitude  on  our  part  is  all  the  excuse  Spain  needs 
for  recalling  the  butcher  Weyler  and  abandoning  the  inhuman 
purpose  of  making  one  of  the  fairest  regions  of  the  earth  a 
depopulated  desert,  and  calling  that  peace. 

The  blowing  up  of  the  Maine  removed  the  last  hope 
of  settlement  by  negotiation.  Even  then  The  World 
affected  to  believe  that  war  was  not  inevitable,  but  in 
Spain  it  was  becoming  as  hard  to  restrain  public  anger  at 
the  " Yankee  pigs"  as  it  was  in  our  own  country  to  hold 
back  the  hotheads  who  wished  Weyler  driven  into  the  sea. 

Now  was  seen  the  wisdom  of  The  World  and  those  who 
with  it  had  protested  against  warlike  passion  in  the 
Venezuela  crisis.  The  British  were  openly  sympathetic 
with  us  at  Manila.  The  continent  of  Europe  was  strongly 
against  us.  The  French  ambassador,  M.  Jules  Cambon, 
and  the  German  ambassador,  Baron  von  Holleben,  con- 
certed in  Washington  a  plan  to  involve  Great  Britain 
in  an  expression  of  this  enmity.  An  identical  despatch 
signed  by  the  representatives  of  five  continental  powers, 
advising  a  joint  European  remonstrance  against  the  war, 
was  submitted  to  Lord  Pauncefote,  and  he  was  induced  to 
sign  and  present  it  by  methods  which  may  be  left  in 
dispute.  It  has  even  been  charged  that  the  despatch  was 
"  doctored."  Lord  Salisbury  ignored  the  paper  when  it 
was  forwarded  to  him.  Four  years  later  sensational  Ber- 
lin cablegrams,  supposedly  inspired,  revealed  Lord  Paunce- 
fote's  part  in  the  transaction,  and  accused  Great  Britain 
of  unfriendly  action;  neither  Washington  nor  London 
was  moved  by  the  publication,  and  Von  Holleben  was 
recalled.  Such  friendship  as  that  of  Salisbury  was  worth 
much  in  1898. 
No  apologies  for  The  Worlds  urgency  that  Cuba  be  freed 


162  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

by  force  will  be  necessary  if  that  contest  answered  its 
description  of  a  holy  war: 

Is  war  always  a  crime?    Are  all  wars  unholy? 

History  answers  the  question.  The  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence was  a  declaration  of  war,  but  it  was  not  a  crime.  The 
war  of  the  Revolution  was  not  unholy. 

War  waged  by  an  alien  power  to  perpetuate  its  despotism 
over  a  subject  race  is  always  unholy. 

War  waged  in  behalf  of  freedom,  of  self-government,  of  law 
and  order,  of  humanity,  to  end  oppression,  misrule,  plunder 
and  savagery,  is  a  holy  war  in  itself.  It  is  doubly  justified 
if  it  is  free  from  the  taint  of  selfishness,  the  greed  of  acquisition, 
the  lust  of  power. 

War  was  declared  April  23d.  Almost  at  once  Admiral 
Dewey,  in  command  of  the  Asiatic  squadron,  sailed  for 
Manila.  It  was  known  that  a  battle  must  have  taken 
place  there,  probably  on  May  1st.  For  six  days  the 
wildest  rumors  prevailed,  but  with  Manila  cut  off  from 
cable  communication  no  authentic  news  was  possible. 
Upon  this  tense  period  of  waiting  there  broke,  on  the 
morning  of  May  7th,  this  despatch  exclusively  printed 
in  The  World,  which  gave  the  world  its  first  information : 

V. 

HONGKONG,  May  7th. 

I  have  just  arrived  here  on  the  United  States  revenue  cutter 
Hugh  McCulloch,  with  my  report  of  the  great  American  triumph 
at  Manila. 

The  entire  Spanish  fleet  of  eleven  vessels  was  destroyed. 
Three  hundred  Spaniards  were  killed  and  four  hundred 
wounded. 

Our  loss  was  none  killed  and  but  six  slightly  wounded. 
Not  one  of  the  American  ships  was  injured. 

E.  W.  HARDEN, 
(World's  Staff  Correspondent.) 

This  initial  triumph  of  the  war  was  speedily  followed 
by  other  victories.  The  army  was  necessarily  slow  in 


A    WAR    FOR    AN    IDEAL  163 

attacking  Cuba  in  force,  but  the  navy  began  at  once 
patrolling  the  waters  about  the  ever-faithful  isle,  to 
which,  in  spite  of  silly  fears  of  raids  by  Spanish  ships 
along  our  Atlantic  coast,  it  was  reasonable  to  suppose 
Cervera's  squadron  of  ships  from  Spain  would  be  sent. 
On  May  19th  the  Cervera  squadron  arrived  in  Santiago 
de  Cuba  and  was  almost  at  once  bottled  up.  Lieutenant 
Hobson  and  a  detachment  of  plucky  naval  volunteers 
sunk  the  Merrimac  in  the  fairway,  which  did  not  com- 
pletely block  the  channel,  but  the  Atlantic  fleet  of  Admiral 
Sampson  kept  constant  guard.  General  Shafter's  army, 
assembled  at  Tampa  and  embarked  at  Key  West,  Florida, 
arrived  at  Daiquiri,  Cuba,  on  June  20-22  and  was  almost 
immediately  involved  in  actions  at  Las  Guasimas  and 
at  El  Caney  on  the  outskirts  of  Santiago.  On  July 
1-2  the  Spanish  works  at  El  Caney  and  San  Juan  were 
carried  with  relatively  heavy  losses  and  on  the  following 
day  Cervera's  ships,  attempting  to  escape  from  the 
harbor,  were  beached  or  sunk  in  a  running  fight.  San- 
tiago was  surrendered  two  weeks  later.  A  little  later 
still  General  Miles  took  Porto  Rico  almost  without  oppo- 
sition; and  on  August  13th,  the  day  after  the  peace 
protocol  was  signed  and  armistice  proclaimed,  Manila 
surrendered  to  the  American  Pacific  expedition  with 
assistance  from  native  revolutionists. 

Thus  ended,  except  for  long-drawn-out  campaigns  with 
the  Filipino  insurgents,  a  war  in  which  the  navy  had 
distinguished  itself  from  first  to  last.  The  voyage  of  the 
Oregon  from  our  Pacific  coast  right  around  South  America 
in  time  to  take  part  in  the  destruction  of  Cervera's  fleet 
was  one  of  the  most  striking  proofs  of  efficiency  in  that 
service.  Quite  otherwise  were  the  conditions  in  the  War 
Department,  where  unreadiness  and  incompetency  de- 
prived the  administration  of  all  the  political  advantage 
it  might  have  expected  to  gain  by  the  campaign.  The 
Secretary  of  War,  Gen.  Russell  A.  Alger,  was  over- 


164  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

weighted  by  his  sudden  responsibility.  Bad  beef  was 
foisted  upon  soldiers  by  army  contractors.  Military 
camps  were  laid  out  with  such  disregard  of  sanitary  pre- 
cautions that  commands  that  never  went  to  Cuba  almost 
rivaled  the  death-rate  of  those  that  did.  Returning 
soldiers  were  placed  in  rest-camps  not  much  better.  The 
military  experts  of  the  world  were  amazed  by  the  appear- 
ance during  the  Santiago  campaign  of  a  "round  robin" 
signed  by  many  officers  of  volunteer  troops,  including 
Colonel  Roosevelt,  protesting  against  the  quality  of  food 
furnished  to  the  soldiers  and  intimating  that  for  sanitary 
reasons  and  lack  of  commissariat  it  might  be  necessary 
to  abandon  positions  which  the  valor  of  the  army  had  won. 

The  World  had  not  shone  in  military  criticism,  which 
was  rather  out  of  its  field.  For  a  time  it  joined  in  shout- 
ing "On  to  Cadiz/'  and  advocating  an  attack  upon 
Spain,  but  after  the  fall  of  Santiago  it  recovered  its  poise 
and  realized  that  the  war  had  lasted  long  enough.  Hence- 
forward it  favored  an  early  peace.  In  exposing  the  beef 
scandals  it  led  the  way  and  did  much  good  work. 

The  political  campaign  of  1898  began  as  the  protocol 
of  peace  was  signed.  Boss  Platt,  more  concerned  to  retain 
his  hold  on  the  state  government  than  he  had  been  to  keep 
Croker  out  of  power  in  New  York  City,  looked  for  a  "war 
hero"  who  could  not  be  held  responsible  for  the  blunders 
of  the  administration.  There  was  one  such  man  in  New 
York,  practically  only  one,  Colonel  Roosevelt  of  the 
Rough  Riders,  fresh  from  the  front,  an  intense,  ambitious 
man,  familiar  with  political  conditions  in  Albany  and 
not  unduly  sensitive  about  being  bossed.  For  the  Roose- 
velt who  has  since  thundered  so  fiercely  against  bosses 
gave  out  in  September,  1898,  an  interview  stating  that 
if  elected  Governor  he  would  "on  all  matters  of  impor- 
tance consult  Senator  Platt  as  leader  of  the  party." 

Had  The  World's  advice  been  heeded  in  1898  the 
country  might  have  been  spared  the  picturesque,  costly 


A    WAR    FOR    AN    IDEAL  165 

career  of  this  child  of  destiny.  It  was  an  opportunity 
for  a  strong  Democratic  candidate.  TJie  World  had  such 
a  candidate,  a  man  whom  for  years  it  had  urged  upon 
attention  for  Mayor  or  for  Governor.  On  September  16th 
it  said: 

Judge  Gay  nor  certainly  possesses  many  qualities  desirable 
in  a  candidate.  There  can  be  no  doubt  in  any  mind  as  to  what 
the  man  who  sent  McKane  to  prison  would  do  to  the  Canal 
Ring  if  he  were  elected  Governor.  No  Force  bill  would  receive 
his  approval.  No  corporations  with  interests  inimical  to  the 
public  interest  could  either  buy  or  dictate  legislation  if  Gaynor 
were  Governor.  He  is  as  brave  as  Roosevelt,  and  is  superior 
as  a  stump-speaker.  No  boss  could  control  him.  He  has 
shown  himself  to  be  a  reformer  who  reforms  evils. 

Had  Gaynor  been  a  candidate  against  Colonel  Roose- 
velt the  man  on  horseback  would  have  been  left  to  his 
pen  and  his  study.  Judge  Gaynor  was  not  then,  nor  on 
the  other  occasions  mentioned,  desirous  of  the  nomina- 
tion. He  would  not  have  been  accepted  in  any  case  by 
Boss  Croker,  whose  influence  secured  the  selection  of 
Mayor  Van  Wyck's  brother,  Judge  Augustus  Van  Wyck, 
of  Brooklyn.  It  was  a  nomination  to  justify  the  often- 
repeated  question,  "Must  a  boss  be  an  ass?"  Voters 
feared  that  Judge  Van  Wyck  might  be  as  servile  to 
bossism  in  Albany  as  his  brother  in  New  York.  To  make 
matters  worse,  Croker  denied  a  renomination  to  Supreme 
Court  Justice  Daly,  and  thus  heightened  the  revolt. 

The  World  was  not  unfriendly  to  Colonel  Roosevelt, 
with  his  newly  won  laurels  as  a  popular  soldier,  but  it 
saw  in  him  an  accepted  agent  of  Boss  Platt;  and  upon 
the  Platt  machine  rather  than  upon  Roosevelt  personally 
it  trained  its  batteries.  There  was  plenty  of  ammunition : 
the  new  series  of  canal  scandals,  which  showed  the  ma- 
chine in  an  unfavorable  light;  the  Force  bill,  passed  to 
hamper  free  elections  in  New  York;  imperialism  and 


166  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

Republican  extravagance.  It  was  a  losing  battle.  But 
with  all  the  advantages  of  a  war  candidate,  with  an  an- 
tagonist so  weak  as  Van  Wyck,  and  with  the  Daly  issue 
to  help  in  the  metropolis,  Colonel  Roosevelt  won  only  by 
eighteen  thousand  plurality.  Almost  any  popular  candi- 
date would  have  beaten  him.  Judge  Gaynor  could  have 
won  by  a  tremendous  margin.  So  fortune  serves  her 
favorites.  Elsewhere  in  the  country  there  were  decided 
Democratic  gains  in  spite  of  a  successful  war.  The 
temporary  relegation  of  the  silver  issue  to  the  rear  had 
made  them  possible. 

Immediately  after  the  election  of  Roosevelt  as  Governor 
of  New  York  pressure  was  renewed  upon  the  1899  Legis- 
lature for  a  law  taxing  franchises,  a  project  initiated  by 
The  World.  The  bill  was  drawn  by  Lawson  Purdy  and 
Senator  John  Ford,  now  a  Supreme  Court  justice,  from  a 
draft  sent  by  The  World.  Governor  Roosevelt  suggested  a 
commission  to  investigate  taxation,  but  by  mass-meetings 
and  other  means  of  voicing  public  sentiment  it  was  made 
plain  that  delay  would  score  against  the  party  responsible. 
Boss  Platt  did  not  favor  the  act.  Boss  Croker,  who  testi- 
fied before  the  Mazet  Committee  that  he  was  "  working  for 
his  own  pocket  all  the  time,"  looked  with  disfavor  upon  tax- 
ing the  corporations  that  had  bought  franchises.  But  pub- 
licity was  too  powerful  for  the  old-time  partnership,  and  on 
April  29th  The  World  was  able  to  announce  its  triumph: 

The  passage  by  the  Assembly  of  the  Ford  bill  taxing  fran- 
chises, by  the  strong  vote  of  104  to  38,  completes  a  notable 
victory  for  justice  through  publicity. 

On  the  llth  of  January  last  The  World  took  up  the  question 
of  unequal  assessments  and  unjust  taxation  in  this  city.  It 
showed  that  over  $6,000,000,000  of  personal  property  assessed 
for  taxation  escaped  through  "  swearing  off."  It  revealed  the 
enormous  value  of  the  franchises  of  street-using  corporations 
and  the  ridiculously  small  amount  paid  by  these  corporations 
for  their  privileges.  .  .  . 


A    WAR    FOR    AN    IDEAL  167 

From  that  day  to  this  not  an  issue  of  The  World  has  appeared 
without  an  array  of  facts,  arguments  and  appeals  bearing  on 
this  question.  More  than  350  columns  of  this  matter  have 
been  printed  in  The  World  during  its  fight  for  just  taxation. 

In  addition  to  this  The  World  procured  and  sent  to  the 
Legislature  a  petition  for  the  Ford  bill,  containing  the  names 
of  20,000  property-owners  and  rent-payers.  .  .  .  And  finally, 
when  the  measure  was  to  all  appearances  dead  in  the  hostile 
hands  of  the  Assembly  Rules  Committee,  The  World  organized 
and  sent,  at  its  own  expense  by  special  train  to  Albany,  a 
committee  of  one  hundred  citizens  to  make  a  last  demand 
upon  the  Assembly  for  action  on  the  bill.  The  revived  hope  of 
its  friends  dated  from  that  demonstration. 

The  relief  to  overburdened  taxpayers  from  this  measure  of 
justice  will  be  perceptible  and  welcome.  It  will  reduce  by 
$15,000,000  the  burden  upon  the  present  taxpayers  of  this 
city.  It  will  increase  the  bond-issuing  capacity  of  the  city 
$100,000,000.  But  greater  than  this  is  the  demonstration  that 
when  the  people  will  do  so  they  still  rule. 

Governor  Roosevelt  had  found  in  the  bill  what  he 
described  as  faults  and  called  the  Legislature  in  special 
session  to  remedy  them.  In  the  opinion  of  Senator  Ford 
the  Roosevelt  changes  weakened  the  law,  but  it  has  con- 
tinued to  serve  a  useful  purpose  in  the  economy  of  the 
state,  after  having  been  held  valid  by  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court. 

In  the  same  month  The  World  defeated  a  long-pending 
plot  of  water-right  and  water-option  owners  to  exploit 
the  city  through  a  contract  to  provide  water  from  the 
Ramapo  River  for  a  sum  which,  it  was  supposed,  would 
mount  to  two  hundred  million  dollars.  A  water  system 
half  public-owned  and  half  privately  controlled  was  pre- 
posterous. Yet  in  the  low  moral  state  of  the  city  govern- 
ment the  project  would  probably  have  succeeded  had  not 
The  World  enjoined  the  Board  of  Public  Improvements, 
called  mass-meetings,  and  roused  public  sentiment.  A 
good  part  of  the  battle  was  in  a  telling  phrase;  as  "The 


168  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

Great  Chartered  Ramapo  Robbery "  the  scheme  became 
notorious;  and  with  the  aid  of  Comptroller  Bird  S.  Coler 
it  was  killed. 

Similar  services  were  rendered  to  rapid  transit.  A 
tablet  in  City  Hall  Park  shows  where  the  first  subway  was 
begun  by  Mayor  Van  Wyck's  throwing  out  a  spadeful 
of  earth;  it  does  not  tell  how  Van  Wyck's  administration 
followed  the  Tammany  traditions  of  hostility  to  the 
measure,  even  to  the  point  of  securing  an  opinion  from 
Corporation  Counsel  Whalen,  a  Croker  appointee,  that 
the  city's  debt  limit  was  exhausted  and  it  could  not  issue 
rapid-transit  bonds.  The  World  with  its  rallying  cry  of 
" Fifteen  Minutes  to  Harlem7'  had  powerfully  aided  in 
arousing  public  sentiment  in  favor  of  quicker  transit 
until  it  would  not  be  denied.  The  beginning  of  the  first 
public-built  and  public- owned  subway  in  New  York  was 
an  event  of  great  importance.  The  magnitude  of  the 
work  would  alone  have  made  its  inception  memorable. 
The  original  subway  cost  $35,000,000  to  construct;  with 
improvements  and  extensions,  including  that  to  Brooklyn 
under  the  East  River,  it  had  cost  $55,000,000  before 
arrangements  were  made  to  complete  and  supplement 
it. 

The  cause  of  international  peace,  which  The  World 
had  so  powerfully  aided,  again  interested  it  in  1899. 
The  summoning  of  the  first  Hague  Conference  by  "the 
ruler  of  the  most  backward  of  the  peoples  commonly 
called  civilized,"  the  Czar  of  Russia,  was  scoffed  at  by  the 
statesmen  of  Europe.  They  saw  in  it  the  idealism  of  a 
dreamy  monarch ;  or  with  Kipling,  warning  Britain  against 
the  truce  of  the  "bear  that  walks  like  a  man,"  they  saw 
danger  to  themselves.  That  the  American  representa- 
tives went  to  the  conference  in  a  more  hopeful  spirit  was 
in  part  due  to  the  long  support  of  The  World. 

Britain  was  just  then  in  greater  need  of  warning  against 
the  aggression  of  the  bear  than  against  the  fate  of  Adam- 


A    WAR    FOR    AN    IDEAL  169 

Zad.  She  was  in  the  full  course  of  the  provocative  steps 
which,  beginning  with  the  Jameson  raid,  were  to  bring 
on  the  Boer  War  in  the  interest  of  a  few  cosmopolitan 
mine-owners  and  of  Joseph  Chamberlain's  schemes  of 
colonial  empire.  The  World  threw  open  its  columns  to 
President  "Oom  Paul"  Kruger  of  the  Transvaal.  His 
statement  was  summarized  editorially: 

President  Kruger  says  that  the  crisis  is  due  to  two  main 
causes : 

First — "A  certain  section  of  British  residents,  to  whom  the 
existence  of  the  Republic,  embracing  the  most  flourishing  parts 
of  South  Africa,  is  a  standing  eyesore,  and  who  are  suffering 
from  the  prevailing  jingo  mania." 

Second — "The  mining  capitalists,  who,  not  content  with 
having  the  best  mining  laws  in  the  world,  wish  also  to  have 
complete  control  of  legislation  and  administration." 

The  object,  he  says,  is  as  clear  as  are  the  causes: 

"The  destruction  of  the  Republic  and  the  complete  control 
of  the  richest  mines  in  the  world." 

There  is  a  dignified  and  profoundly  touching  pathos  in 
"Oom  Paul's"  conclusion: 

"Though  we  have  no  such  powerful  friend  as  you  proved  to 
be  to  Venezuela  and  other  republics,  we  have  strong  faith  that 
the  cause  of  freedom  and  republicanism  will  triumph  in  the  end." 

A  month  later  President  Kruger,  the  President  of  the 
Orange  Free  State,  and  the  Premier  of  Cape  Colony  joined 
in  protests  through  The  World  against  the  impending  war. 
Its  columns  were  used  to  secure  signatures  to  petitions 
which  begged  President  McKinley  to  offer  the  friendly 
services  of  the  United  States  in  reconciling  Great  Britain 
and  the  two  republics.  To  these  petitions  the  President 
replied  through  a  cabinet  minister  as  summarized  by  The 
World: 

First — The  United  States,  having  been  the  recipient  of  moral 
support  from  England  during  the  war  with  Spain,  will  do  noth- 
ing distasteful  to  England. 


170  THE    STOR-Y    OF    A    PAGE 

Second — While  the  sympathies  of  the  President  and  his 
Cabinet  are,  to  a  certain  extent,  with  the  Boers,  yet  their  love 
for  England  is  stronger  and  outweighs  their  friendliness  for  the 
Krugerites. 

Third — The  President  will  not  intervene,  believing,  as  he 
does,  that  intervention  might  enable  some  foreign  power  to 
take  a  hand  in  the  Philippine  war. 

"'Love  of  England/7'  replied  The  World  to  President 
McKinley,  "you  are  right;  we  are  under  moral  obliga- 
tions to  England  and  her  moral  support  last  year.  Deepen 
that  obligation !  Show  for  England  that  higher  friendship, 
that  higher  love,  which  is  not  inconsistent  with  your  duty 
as  a  civilized  man  and  as  the  representative  of  the  great 
republic — love  of  peace,  love  of  justice,  love  of  the 
American  principle  of  arbitration!'7 

Against  the  first  suggestion  that  the  United  States 
should  retain  the  Philippines  The  World  was  in  revolt. 
Upon  the  trial  balloons  sent  up  by  the  Administration  to 
test  public  opinion  upon  "benevolent  assimilation"  it 
trained  its  artillery.  It  characterized  the  proposed  treaty 
as  coming  from  "the  inner  temple  of  Mammon,"  as  an 
attempt  to  extend  markets  with  monopoly  by  the  war 
power,  instead  of  inviting  trade  by  tariff  concessions; 
and  to  the  suggestion  that  we  should  "pay  Spain  forty 
million  dollars  indemnity  [twenty  million  dollars  in  the 
treaty  as  signed]  for  the  destruction  of  her  fleet"  by 
Dewey  it  answered  that  "destiny"  was  a  hifalutin  name 
for  bunco.  The  spirit  of  many  editorial  protests  against 
holding  subject  races  without  constitutional  guarantees 
is  shown  in  the  following  article  of  November  3,  1898: 

The  Great  Republic  has  won  a  position  as  a  world-power, 
a  world-influence,  by  means  of  a  war,  not  for  "  criminal  aggres- 
sion," but  for  humanity  and  liberty  alone. 

How  shall  she  begin  to  use  the  power?  .  .  . 

There  is  a  demand  that  the  first  step  shall  be  the  establish- 


A    WAR    FOR    AN    IDEAL  171 

ment  of  a  military  despotism  over  remote  and  forever  alien 
Malay  millions. 

But  is  there  not  a  worthier,  a  more  fitting  way  of  first  making 
ourselves  felt  in  the  world's  politics? 

"Vampire  empire"  will  drain  the  blood  of  our  young  men 
sent  out  as  garrisons.  It  will  degrade  us  to  the  level  of  war- 
makers  for  "criminal  aggression."  It  will  rob  us  of  our  un- 
sullied character  as  the  friends  of  liberty,  the  advocates  of 
government  only  with  the  consent  of  the  governed. 

Would  it  not  be  nobler,  wiser,  to  keep  to  the  course  of  human- 
ity and  civilized  progress?  Would  it  not  be  better  to  continue 
to  define  our  international  responsibilities  as  George  Wash- 
ington defined  them  when  he  wrote,  "give  to  mankind  the 
magnanimous  and  too  novel  example  of  a  people  always  guided 
by  an  exalted  justice  and  benevolence"? 

No  imperialism.  No  indemnity  to  Spain.  No  permanent 
war  taxes.  No  annex  of  despotism.  No  shoulder-strap 
satrapies.  No  infusion  of  Malay  hordes  into  the  Republic. 
No  plutocracy  at  home.  No  autocracy  abroad. 

Yet  the  country  was  not  displeased  with  the  tinsel 
of  its  new  toy.  In  the  1899  elections  imperialism  was  not 
directly  involved,  as  no  members  of  Congress  were  elected 
except  to  fill  vacancies;  but  the  verdict  of  the  states, 
though  indirect,  was  emphatic.  Mr.  Bryan  represented 
anti  -  imperialism,  but  he  also  continued  to  represent 
free  silver,  which,  though  dead  as  an  issue,  could  be 
galvanized  by  skilful  political  foes  into  horrendous  signs 
of  renewed  vitality.  After  the  November  elections  The 
World  was  constrained  to  say: 

The  elections  mean  a  victory  for  imperialism  in  a  majority 
of  the  States  voting.  There  is  neither  honesty  nor  profit  in 
denying  this.  They  mean  also  a  triumph  for  McKinley — but 
a  triumph  that  was  made  easy  by  Mr.  Bryan  and  his  friends 
in  thrusting  again  to  the  front  at  the  beginning  of  the  campaign 
the  futile  and  fatal  fallacy  of  free  silver  and  the  thrice-con- 
demned Chicago  platform. 

Yet  the  blunder  was  to  be  repeated. 


XIII 

IMPERIALISM 

1900-1901 

Mr.  Bryan's  Tactical  Error — He  Assists  the  Spanish  Treaty  and  Acquisi- 
tion of  the  Philippines — Republican  Platform  Determined  by  the  Results 
of  the  War — Reciprocity  Yields  to  the  Theory  of  Markets  Won  and  Held 
by  Military  Power — Theodore  Roosevelt  for  Vice-President — The  Free- 
Silver  Issue  Insisted  Upon  by  Mr.  Bryan — Devery  and  the  New  York 
Police  Department — Governor  Odell  Rescues  the  City  by  Favoring  Fusion — 
The  Shepard-Low  Campaign. 

MR.  BRYAN  saw  that  imperialism  was  an  inescapable 
issue.  But  at  the  crisis  which  decided  American  policy 
he  was  smitten  with  vacillation  of  purpose  or  errancy  of 
judgment  which  robbed  his  influence  of  its  due  effect. 

That  he  felt  the  peril  of  the  shifting  national  course  he 
showed  in  December,  1898.  "  Heretofore/7  said  he, 
"  greed  has  perverted  the  government  and  used  its  instru- 
mental interference  for  private  gain;  but  now  the  very 
foundation  principles  of  our  government  are  assaulted.7' 
And,  adapting  Lincoln's  phrase,  "this  nation  cannot 
endure  half  republic  and  half  colony,  half  free  and  half 
vassal." 

How,  then,  did  he  justify  his  action  only  two  months 
later?  The  Treaty  of  Paris,  ceding  the  Philippines,  was 
submitted  to  the  Senate  early  in  1899  and  debated  four 
weeks.  Enlightened  public  sentiment  was  unfavorable. 
The  World  and  other  journals  of  influence  protested.  The 
majority  of  the  American  Peace  Commissioners  in  Paris 
had  opposed  the  Philippine  cession  until  instructed  by 


IMPERIALISM  173 

President  McKinley  to  insist  upon  it.  One  reason  for 
his  course  was  gratitude  to  Great  Britain  and  a  wish 
to  oblige  her  by  keeping  the  islands  out  of  unfriendly 
hands.  But  jingoism  was  already  keen  among  the  war 
enthusiasts  in  the  two  military  services  and  in  business 
interests  which  thrive  on  war  contracts. 

Whatever  the  reasons  for  the  cession,  the  treaty  con- 
taining it  nearly  failed  of  ratification,  receiving  in  the 
Senate  only  one  vote  to  spare.  The  veteran  Republican 
Senators,  Hoar  of  Massachusetts  and  Hale  of  Maine, 
both  voted  against  the  innovation.  But  for  Mr.  Bryan's 
advice  the  seventeen  Democrats  and  Populists  who  sup- 
ported the  treaty  could  not  have  been  mustered.  "I 
believe,"  said  he,  when  taxed  with  inconsistency,  "that 
we  are  now  in  a  better  position  to  wage  a  successful  war 
against  imperialism  than  we  would  have  been  had  the 
treaty  been  rejected."  "You  thought,"  commented  The 
World,  "a  great  wrong  should  be  done  that  you  might 
fight  the  great  wrong  after  it  was  accomplished." 

The  World  had  no  idea  of  such  an  error  of  postponement. 
It  fought  the  Treaty  of  Paris  in  the  making  and  in  the 
ratification  and  did  not  cease  the  fight  even  when  it  was 
ratified.  Unanswerable  were  its  arguments — unless  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  was  a  mistake.  The  native 
inhabitants  "possessed  the  right  to  govern  themselves  or 
to  give  their  consent  to  being  governed,  which  is  included 
in  the  natural  and  unalienable  right  of  all  men  to  life, 
liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness."  Telling  use  was 
made  of  the  treaty  made  by  Mr.  McKinley  with  the 
Sultan  of  Sulu — "recognition  of  the  Sultan's  complete 
independence  and  even  sovereignty  under  the  protection 
of  the  United  States";  the  "subsidies  to  himself,  his 
harem  keepers,  etc.,  recognition  of  and  protection  to 
slavery  and  bigamy." 

But  whatever  Mr.  Bryan's  error  in  1899  in  causing  the 
Treaty  of  Paris  to  be  ratified  with  Democratic  aid,  he  did 


174  THE    STORY   OF   A   PAGE 

sincerely  believe  that  ruling  the  Philippines  outside  of  the 
Constitution  was  wrong;  he  held  to  that  belief,  and  re- 
mained a  power  on  the  side  of  justice  to  our  island  wards 
and  to  our  own  traditions.  "  We  should  not  only  give  the 
Filipino  independence,"  he  said,  later,  but  "we  should 
protect  him  from  his  enemies.  We  should  establish  a 
government  and  then  tell  him  that  it  is  his,  and  then  we 
should  tell  the  world  '  Hands  off.'"  In  a  speech  in 
Keokuk  in  October,  1899,  Mr.  Bryan  swept  away  in  a 
sentence  the  whole  defense  of  McKinley's  war  of  subjuga- 
tion. "Must  we  keep  these  islands  because  Dewey  sank 
a  Spanish  fleet?"  he  asked.  "Schley  sank  one,  and  we 
promise  to  free  Cuba." 

Because  of  such  utterances  and  because  silver  was  no 
longer  a  danger  The  World  viewed  Mr.  Bryan's  nomina- 
tion hi  1900  with  less  misgiving  than  in  1896.  It  was 
apparent  long  before  the  convention  met  that  there 
would  be  little  chance  of  naming  another  man.  The 
World  had  hoped  to  find  such  a  man  in  Admiral  Dewey. 
Perhaps  a  war  hero  might  wrest  the  country  from  the 
Republicans.  Unwilling  in  the  fall  of  1899  to  announce 
himself  a  candidate,  the  admiral  permitted  the  use  of  his 
name  on  April  3,  1900.  "What  citizen  would  refuse,"  he 
said,  "the  highest  honor  in  the  gift  of  the  nation?" 
Mournfully  The  World  admitted  that  "Admiral  Dewey  is 
perhaps  for  the  first  time  in  his  life  too  late.  Last 
October  opportunity  sought  him  in  vain.  Now  he  seeks 
it  in  vain." 

The  Republican  platform  was  written  in  advance  by  the 
name  of  the  President  and  the  result  of  the  war.  Reci- 
procity was  dead.  A  favoring  tariff  had  been  refused  to 
Porto  Rico  by  Congress,  though  that  island  was  an  in- 
tegral part  of  the  nation  "Mondays,  Wednesdays,  and 
Fridays."  Washington  was  dreaming  of  trade  in  Asia. 
Of  these  sinister  facts  in  the  Republican  outlook  The 
World  said: 


IMPERIALISM  175 

Reciprocity  was  a  valuable  idea,  because  it  proposed  more 
and  more  widely  to  open  to  us,  to  our  superior  skill  in  produc- 
tion, the  markets  of  the  civilized  world.  .  .  . 

The  Republican  policy  of  to-day  is  a  complete  reversal  of 
the  sagacious  plans  of  the  Republican  leader  and  party  of  a 
dozen  years  ago. 

The  McKinleys  and  Hannas  invite  our  producers  to  turn 
their  whole  attention  to  the  meager  markets  of  barbaric  and 
semi-barbaric  peoples,  to  the  "gorgeous  East" — gorgeous  in 
poetry  and  romance,  but  squalid  and  poor  in  reality. 

The  World  opposed  the  nomination  of  a  third  ticket  by 
the  Gold  Democrats.  "Four  years  ago/!  it  said,  "free 
silver  was  the  dominant  issue  in  the  campaign.  This 
year,  though  it  may  be  talked  about  in  certain  sections, 
it  will  not  be  an  issue  at  all  because  the  money  question 
is  settled  for  at  least  four  years  to  come  by  an  unchangeable 
Republican  majority  in  the  Senate."  It  begged  all 
Democrats  to  concentrate  their  attention  upon  the  more 
pressing  danger: 

A  country  with  subject  possessions  secured  by  conquest 
and  governed  by  force  is  not  a  republic.  And  where  plutocracy 
rules,  democracy  becomes  merely  a  name  without  force  or 
effect. 

It  is  for  these  reasons  that  a  third  ticket  this  year  is  not  only 
uncalled  for,  but  would  be  even  more  farcical  than  it  was  in 
1896.  Mr.  Bryan,  who,  as  The  World  said  two  months  ago, 
will  be  renominated  by  acclamation,  represents  the  American 
and,  therefore,  the  democratic  side  of  these  living,  burning, 
dominating  issues.  He  is  for  this  reason  entitled  to  and  will 
receive  the  support  of  The  World  and  of  all  who  believe  with 
us  that  "the  only  issue  worth  considering  in  this  campaign  is 
the  preservation  of  the  Republic,  the  maintenance  of  the 
Constitution  and  a  return  to  the  principles  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence." 

The  death  of  Vice-President  Hobart  made  it  necessary 
for  the  Republican  national  convention  to  select  a  new 


176  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

candidate  for  his  office — the  only  real  business  of  the 
gathering.  Naturally,  tne  energetic  Governor  of  New 
York  was  discussed.  Mr.  Roosevelt  had  refused  to  be 
considered,  but  "the  ' irrevocable'  was  revoked.  'Vow- 
ing he  would  ne'er  consent/  he  consented."  Platt  had 
"desired  and  schemed  for  this  result  in  order  to  get 
Roosevelt  out  of  the  Governor's  chair."  Yet  The  World 
saw  in  the  disposition  of  the  delegates  to  select  Mr. 
Roosevelt,  "in  spite  of  the  sinister  support  of  the  bosses, 
the  undisguised  hostility  of  the  corporations  in  this  State 
and  the  opposition  of  Hanna,  a  fine  tribute  to  his  charac- 
ter, his  high  purpose  and  real  achievements  in  public  life." 

The  Democratic  convention,  meeting  in  Kansas  City 
July  4th,  adopted  one  plank  to  which  The  World  could 
take  no  exception:  "The  burning  issue  of  imperialism, 
growing  out  of  the  Spanish  war,  involves  the  very  exis- 
tence of  the  Republic  and  the  destruction  of  our  free  in- 
stitutions. We  regard  it  as  the  paramount  issue  of  the 
campaign." 

But  a  party  cannot  always  determine  upon  what  issue 
it  will  fight  its  battles.  Issues  are  thrust  upon  it  by  cir- 
cumstances, by  dumb  chance,  by  an  accusing  past. 
Mr.  Bryan,  with  his  genius  for  defeat,  did  not  trust  to 
anything  less  certain  than  deliberate  intent  to  provide 
himself  with  a  losing  cause.  To  the  Gold  Democrats  who 
besought  him  to  make  it  possible  for  them  to  rejoin  the 
party  his  answer  was  a  telegram,  printed  the  day  the 
convention  met: 

If  by  any  chance  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  decides  to  report 
a  platform  in  which  there  is  not  a  silver  plank,  there  must  be  a  minority 
report  and  a  fight  on  the  floor  of  the  convention.  I  will  come  to 
Kansas  City  on  the  fastest  train  available,  make  a  fight  for  free  silver 
on  the  floor  of  the  convention,  and  then  decline  to  take  the  nomination 
if  the  convention  omits  the  ratio.  This  is  final. 

This  unwelcome  action  and  the  adoption  of  a  free-silver 
plank  did  not  deter  The  World  from  Bryan's  support, 


IMPERIALISM  177 

though  it  felt  that  support  vto  be  hopeless.  During  the 
campaign  Mr.  Bryan  devoted  much  attention  to  the  new 
issue  of  the  far-away  islands — so  much  that  The  World 
described  him  as  "  The  New  Bryan."  It  said  on  September 
26th: 

It  is  not  necessary  to  agree  with  Mr.  Bryan — and  we  certainly 
do  not  agree  with  him  on  his  financial  theories — in  order  to 
do  him  the  simple  justice  of  admitting  that  he  is  a  far  different 
man  from  what  he  was  four  years  ago;  more  dignified,  more 
temperate,  more  respectful  in  every  way  of  the  conservative 
opinion  of  the  country.  .  .  . 

Venerable  and  life-long  Republican  statesmen,  like  George 
S.  Boutwell,  over  eighty  years  old,  and  Carl  Schurz,  seventy- 
two,  have  nothing  in  the  world  to  gain  by  coming  out  for  Mr. 
Bryan  now,  if  they  saw  in  him  the  same  representative  of  dan- 
gerous political  experiments  as  four  years  ago. 

The  result  of  the  election  was  never  in  much  doubt. 
Hope  upon  the  one  side,  apprehension  on  the  other,  rose 
to  no  such  heights  as  in  1896.  Defeat  was  more  crushing. 
Bryan's  popular  vote  was  150,000  smaller;  McKinley's 
100,000  greater.  The  electoral  college  showed  a  plurality 
of  137.  It  was  a  heavy  blow  to  anti-imperialism.  For 
the  time  being,  the  country  was  committed  to  the  con- 
tinuance of  that  rule  over  the  Philippines  and  their 
eight  million  people  which  an  old-fashioned  Republican, 
Senator  Hoar,  described  as  "pure,  simple,  undiluted, 
unchecked  despotism." 

Because  of  his  services  to  the  city  in  the  Ramapo  and 
other  matters  The  World  favored  the  nomination  of 
Comptroller  Coler  for  Governor  in  1900,  but  the  reasons 
which  made  him  at  that  time  a  popular  candidate  made 
him  also  unpalatable  to  Tammany,  and  John  B.  Stanch- 
field,  Mr.  Hill's  candidate,  was  placed  in  the  field.  It 
would  have  made  little  difference  that  year  whom  the 
party  nominated.  Seeing  his  opportunity  to  ride  into 


178  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

office  upon  the  backs  of  the  sound-money  men,  Senator 
Platt  named  for  Governor  his  deputy  boss,  Representative 
Benjamin  B.  Odell,  Jr.,  a  politician  of  more  than  ordinary 
shrewdness.  Perhaps  Odell  nominated  himself;  he  was 
already  grasping  the  power  from  Platt's  enfeebled  hands. 

Little  as  it  liked  Stanchfield,  The  World  liked  less  Odell's 
nomination,  which  "  raised  the  question  clean-cut  whether 
one  man  shall  hold  both  the  executive  and  the  law-making 
power."  As  Platt's  proxy,  he  had  been  the  Legislature 
the  previous  winter;  his  election  would  mean  "a  practical 
subversion  of  popular  government  and  the  substitution 
of  one-man  rule  pure  and  simple." 

Weak  candidate  as  he  would  have  been  under  happier 
circumstances,  Odell  won,  with  McKinley's  help,  by 
one  hundred  and  eleven  thousand.  He  proved  to  be  the 
ablest  Governor  New  York  had  had  for  years.  A  fair 
vision  of  the  Presidency  shone  before  him,  and  he  was 
keen  to  note  how  Cleveland  had  attained  that  office  by 
disregard  of  bosses  and  service  of  the  people. 

If  The  World's  efforts  for  national  reform  were  made  of 
no  avail  by  the  silver  obsession;  if  in  the  state  its  desire 
for  good  government  was  unexpectedly  aided  by  a  man 
whom  it  had  reasons  for  opposing,  it  triumphed  greatly 
in  the  city  of  New  York  against  the  alliance  between  vice 
and  politics  which  throve  in  the  shelter  of  Tammany. 

The  Van  Wyck  administration  had  proved  all  that  had 
been  feared.  The  Police  Department,  under  four  com- 
missioners— one  Tammany  man,  one  McLaughlin  Demo- 
crat from  Brooklyn,  and  two  nominal  Republicans,  who 
were  really  assistant  Tammanyites — was  practically  con- 
trolled by  William  S.  Devery  as  chief.  The  Republican 
Legislature  changed  the  charter,  putting  the  chief  and  the 
Police  Board  out  of  office  and  substituting  a  single  com- 
missioner. Croker  countered  by  making  Devery  deputy 
commissioner;  for  commissioner  he  selected  Michael  C. 
Murphy,  a  wizened  atomy  of  a  man  performing  the 


IMPERIALISM  179 

daily  miracle  of  living  with  a  closed  oesophagus,  which 
required  feeding  through  a  tube,  a  process  that  could 
not  long  keep  him  alive.  Even  with  the  best  of  inten- 
tions Murphy  could  be  no  more  than  a  figurehead. 

The  tale  of  Van  Wyck's  unfitness  did  not  stop  with  his 
surrender  of  the  Police  Department  to  Croker;  he  was 
willing  also  to  receive  personal  profit  from  a  trust  that 
proposed  to  exploit  the  people  by  municipal  favor.  This 
was  the  famous  Ice  Trust;  with  Devery,  it  gave  Van 
Wyck  the  title  of  "the  Ice-Trust-Vice-Trust  Mayor." 

The  Ice  Trust  was  the  creation  of  Charles  W.  Morse, 
of  Bath,  Maine,  who  has  since  served  a  term  in  a  federal 
prison  for  banking  offenses.  Morse's  idea  was  simplicity 
itself.  Combining  various  ice  companies,  he  planned  to 
shut  out  competition  by  control  of  private  and  public 
docks  at  which  independent  dealers  could  land  ice.  In 
this  he  counted  upon  the  co-operation  of  the  Dock  Board, 
in  which  Charles  F.  Murphy,  afterward  the  Tammany 
boss,  was  the  ruling  spirit.  On  May  1,  1890,  the  trust 
notified  domestic  customers  that  ice  would  cost  sixty 
cents  a  hundred  pounds,  and  that  no  five-cent  pieces 
would  be  sold.  On  May  23d  The  World  announced  that 
it  had  found  in  the  armory  of  the  law  a  weapon  for  the 
protection  of  the  people  against  extortion,  in  section 
1534  of  the  Greater  New  York  charter,  providing  for 
the  summary  public  examination  of  any  city  official  or 
other  person: 

This  provision  of  law  was  originally  enacted  in  1874  to  remedy 
the  difficulty  that  had  then  lately  arisen  in  compelling  the 
testimony  of  official  and  other  persons  concerned  in  the  crimes 
of  the  Tweed  Ring.  Wisely  incorporated  in  the  consolidated 
city's  charter,  it  is  now  invoked  by  The  World  to  compel  the 
disclosure,  by  public  examination,  of  whatever  "knowledge  or 
information"  the  officials  of  the  city  and  their  unofficial  partners 
have  in  their  possession  as  to  the  Ice  Trust  and  the  dealings  of 
the  Dock  Board  therewith. 


180  THE    STORY    OF   A   PAGE 

Justice  Gaynor,  on  application  made  by  The  World  under 
this  section,  has  issued  an  order  to  Mayor  Van  Wyck,  Mr. 
John  F.  Carroll,  and  the  three  members  of  the  Dock  Board — 
all  of  whom  have  so  far  refused  to  say  one  word  as  to  their 
official  or  personal  relations  with  the  Ice  Trust — and  also 
to  the  President  and  Vice-President  of  the  American  Ice  Com- 
pany, to  appear  before  him  on  Saturday  next  and  submit  to 
examination  on  oath  on  that  intensely  interesting  subject. 

Mayor  Van  Wyck  admitted  that  through  a  ground- 
floor  arrangement  he  had  obtained  3,050  shares  of  pre- 
ferred stock  and  2,750  shares  of  common  stock  of  the 
Ice  Trust,  although  the  city  charter  forbade  such  invest- 
ment. Others  who  held  stock  were  his  brother,  Augustus 
Van  Wyck,  defeated  candidate  for  Governor  in  1898; 
John  F.  Carroll;  Richard  Croker  and  members  of  his 
family;  Dock  Commissioners  Murphy  and  J.  Sergeant 
Cram;  Hugh  McLaughlin,  of  Brooklyn;  Frank  Black, 
Republican  ex-Governor;  Corporation  Counsel  Whalen; 
" Honest  John"  Daly,  gambler;  James  A.  Mahoney,  the 
"King  of  the  Poolrooms/7  and  certain  judges,  some  of 
whom  had  been  investors  in  companies  absorbed  by  the 
trust. 

The  World  sent  Governor  Roosevelt  a  citizens7  petition 
for  the  removal  of  Mayor  Van  Wyck.  Though  nothing 
directly  came  of  this  action,  it  aided  in  causing  the 
trust  to  cut  twenty  cents  a  ton  from  the  price  of  ice, 
and  the  issue  thus  raised  was  potent  the  following  year 
in  redeeming  the  city. 

Nothing  is  farther  from  truth  than  the  assumption  that 
a  political  boss  like  Richard  Croker  must  be  a  shrewd 
politician  to  gain  and  wield  his  power. 

Croker  had  an  iron  will,  great  stubbornness,  and  poor 
judgment.  His  political  acumen  reached  only  so  far 
as  that,  given  a  strong  situation,  a  party  plurality,  or  a 
magnetic  candidate,  he  could  load  upon  that  element  of 
strength  a  burden  of  jobbery  or  of  unfit  nominations, 


IMPERIALISM  181 

and  possibly  win.  But,  as  he  was  incapable  of  estimating 
the  mental  processes  of  the  average  citizen,  he  was  con- 
stantly overloading  his  tickets.  He  did  that  in  1898 
when  he  nominated  a  second  Van  Wyck  for  Governor 
and  denied  a  nomination  to  Judge  Daly,  and  lost  the 
state.  He  did  it  in  1901,  and  lost  the  city  and  the 
county.  It  was  practically  his  last  exploit. 

There  was  a  new  power  in  the  field,  of  which  The 
World  said  in  March,  1901 — while  McKinley  was  still 
living: 

Gov.  Odell  has  not  merely  "broken  with  the  boss."  His 
move  is  far  bolder,  far  more  significant.  In  asserting  his  inde- 
pendence he  has  struck  for  the  leadership  of  his  party. 

Like  Roosevelt,  Odell  is  of  lofty  ambition.  Like  Roosevelt 
two  years  ago,  he  wants  a  second  term  as  Governor,  and  hopes 
for  the  Presidency  afterward.  But  his  problem  is  the  reverse 
of  that  which  Roosevelt  had  to  solve.  Roosevelt  had  a  repu- 
tation as  an  independent,  and  to  win  he  had  to  keep  it  and 
at  the  same  time  gain  the  favor  of  the  machine.  He  failed 
measurably  in  both  directions.  Odell  has  a  reputation  as  a 
machine  and  corporation  man,  and  to  win  he  must  keep  the 
favor  of  the  machine,  or  himself  secure  control  of  it,  and  at 
the  same  time  win  the  favor  of  the  people  by  such  measures 
as  the  corporation-tax  laws  and  his  policy  of  economy. 

The  rising  star  of  Odell  gave  promise  that  the  Repub- 
lican machine  would  not  this  year  be  unfavorable  to  fusion 
against  Tammany,  while  the  Citizens'  Union  also,  chas- 
tened by  defeat  and  aghast  at  the  consequences  of 
disunion,  was  in  a  more  reasonable  frame  of  mind  than 
in  1897.  The  nomination  of  Seth  Low  could  almost  be 
taken  for  granted.  For  safety's  sake  The  World  would 
have  preferred  a  strong  Democrat  on  the  fusion  side, 
but  it  was  well  pleased  with  Low.  It  turned  also  to 
Croker,  urging  him  to  name  a  man  of  high  type,  so  that 
the  city  would  be  safe,  no  matter  who  was  chosen.  Croker, 
quite  capable  of  adding  the  Low  and  Tracy  vote  of  1897 


182  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

and  subtracting  Tammany's,  realized  that  he  must  not 
try  another  Van  Wyck.  He  nominated  Edward  M. 
Shepard,  of  whom  The  World  said: 

In  accepting  Edward  M.  Shepard  as  the  Democratic  nominee 
for  Mayor,  Mr.  Croker  is  entitled  to  credit  for  acting  on  the 
suggestion  made  by  The  World,  which  nearly  a  month  ago 
first  named  Mr.  Shepard  as  one  of  the  strongest  candidates 
who  could  be  nominated.  No  matter  what  his  motive  may  be 
for  yielding  to  The  World's  advice,  even  if  it  be  no  higher  than 
the  making  a  virtue  of  necessity,  the  fact  that  Mr.  Croker 
has  so  yielded  and  has  rendered  the  city  a  signal  service  by 
so  doing  deserves  full  and  ungrudging  acknowledgment. 

Whatever  the  outcome  of  the  election  may  be  in  other 
respects,  the  city  is  assured  in  advance  that  the  Mayor's  chair 
will  be  filled  by  a  man,  and  not  a  puppet. 

Shepard  was  an  ideal  candidate.  He  had  been  a 
municipal  reformer  all  his  life,  had  rendered  distinguished 
public  service.  He  was  able.  His  speeches  were  fine 
and  strong.  Upon  both  sides,  so  far  as  the  Mayoralty 
was  concerned,  the  campaign  was  kept  upon  a  high  plane. 
The  World  asked  only  that  Shepard  pledge  himself  to  the 
purification  of  the  Police  Department.  Seth  Low  had 
said  that  if  he  were  elected,  "as  soon  as  practicable  after 
the  first  of  January  the  official  heads  of  Mr.  Murphy  and 
Mr.  Devery  will  roll  upon  the  ground."  Would  Mr. 
Shepard,  The  World  asked,  "  define  his  position  and 
purpose  in  equally  plain  terms?"  There  was  something 
quixotic  in  the  tenor  of  Mr.  Shepard's  reply  to  the  crucial 
question  of  his  campaign.  It  is  thus  summarized  in 
The  World  editorial  of  October  14th: 

He  quoted  Mr.  Low's  pledge  .  .  .  and  admitted  that  "the 
temptation  upon  me  to  give  it  is  strong,"  as  "there  is  no  doubt 
pre-election  advantage  in  this  pledge."  But  he  refused  to 
give  it: 

1.  Upon  the  constitutional  ground  that  the  oath  of  office 


IMPERIALISM  183 

requires  the  successful  candidate  to  swear  that  he  has  "not 
made  any  promise  to  influence  the  giving  or  withholding  of 
any  vote."  This  provision,  Mr.  Shepard  contends,  was  estab- 
lished in  order  that  when  an  elected  public  servant  of  the  people 
enters  upon  his  duties  "he  shall  do  so  subject  to  no  personal 
pledge,  promise  or  mortgage  which  will  prevent  his  acting  in 
office  with  an  absolute  freedom  upon  the  facts  as  he  shall  find 
them  to  be,  and  upon  his  conscience." 

2.  He  refused  upon  the  ethical  ground  that  "No  man,  what- 
ever my  present  impression  or  opinion  of  him,  and  however 
strong  my  impression  may  be  now,  shall,  by  any  promise  I 
now  give,  be  deprived  of  the  right  to  submit  to  me  as  a  sworn 
Mayor  in  office,  ready  with  an  unclosed  mind  to  hear,  his 
defense  if  he  has  one." 

"For  all  the  votes  in  Christendom,"  declared  Mr.  Shepard, 
"I  will  not  preclude  myself,  if  I  become  Mayor,  from  listening 
to  any  defense  of  any  subordinate  officer  with  a  fair  and  intelli- 
gent mind  and  a  resolute  will." 

Incongruous  the  spectacle  of  such  a  scrupulous  candi- 
date running  upon  a  Croker  platform  and  ticket!  The 
incongruity  was  to  receive  visible  illustration  when  Mr. 
Shepard,  a  man  of  slender  physique,  appeared  upon  the 
platform  at  Tammany  Hall  surrounded  by  men  of  splendid 
physique  who  had  won  their  way  to  power  in  part  by 
their  muscular  strength.  Many  a  voter  who  saw  the 
contrast  wondered  if  Shepard  could  hold  his  own  against 
such  men  if  elected.  The  World  pointed  out  inescapable 
comparisons : 

Mr.  Shepard  has  not  only  put  himself  upon  the  Tammany 
ticket  and  upon  the  Tammany  platform  praising  and  eulogizing 
the  Van  Wyck  administration,  but  he  has  spoken  in  Tammany 
Hall  itself. 

This  is  "the  same  Mr.  Shepard"  who,  four  years  ago,  said 
that  "the  most  burning  and  disgraceful  blot  upon  the  municipal 
history  of  this  country  is  the  career  of  Tammany  Hall."  .  .  . 

We  congratulate  Mr.  Croker  upon  his  master  stroke. 


184  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

Probably  Mr.  Shepard  could  not  have  been  elected  at 
this  time;  against  Low,  and  with  so  poor  a  ticket  in  sup- 
port, he  should  not  have  been.  Croker,  who  consoled 
himself  for  the  need  of  a  fine  candidate  for  Mayor  by 
nominating  for  minor  offices  men  after  his  own  heart,  set 
the  capstone  to  his  folly  by  naming  Mayor  Van  Wyck 
to  be  a  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court.  Van  Wyck  had 
upon  the  platform  the  unique  experience,  for  a  Tammany 
candidate,  of  being  hissed  by  audiences  in  Tammany 
strongholds,  and  was  branded  by  the  Bar  Association  as 
" conspicuously  unfit."  The  World,  while  strongly  sup- 
porting Low,  urged  Democrats  who  would  not  leave 
their  party  to  vote  for  Shepard,  in  whose  hands  the 
Mayoralty  would  be  safe,  but  at  any  rate  to  oppose  all 
the  creatures  of  Croker  upon  the  ticket.  Many  thou- 
sands must  have  done  this.  Mr.  Low's  plurality  was 
31,000.  Edward  M.  Grout,  who  ran  upon  the  Fusion 
ticket  for  Comptroller  against  a  weaker  candidate  than 
Shepard,  had  46,000.  Van  Wyck  received  but  129,000 
votes  for  Justice  in  New  York  County.  This  was  14,000 
less  than  he  had  in  the  same  county  four  years  earlier  for 
Mayor,  even  in  a  three-cornered  fight.  Where  Tammany 
candidates  were  accustomed  to  get  25,000  to  30,000  plu- 
rality he  ran  43,000  below  the  highest  Fusion  candidate. 

By  this  magnificent  victory  The  World  was  moved  to 
some  characteristic  reflections: 

Mr.  Croker,  who  used  to  sneer  at  newspaper  influence,  now 
says:  "I  give  full  credit  for  the  result  of  the  election  to  the 
newspapers."  Mr.  Platt,  whose  modest  habit  it  has  been  to 
attribute  Republican  triumphs  to  Divine  Providence,  on  the 
day  after  the  late  election  gave  the  credit  of  Tammany's  over- 
throw to  the  newspapers.  .  .  . 

If  newspaper  power  has  developed  so  greatly  and  so  largely 
in  right  directions  and  for  the  public  welfare  in  a  hundred 
years,  what  illimitable  opportunities  for  growth  and  for  gooff 
in  the  future  open  before  it  at  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth 


IMPERIALISM  185 

century!  More  and  more  the  saying  of  Constant  becomes 
true:  "The  press  is  the  mistress  of  intelligence,  and  intelligence 
is  the  mistress  of  the  world." 

There  has  never  been  occasion  to  regret  the  action  of 
The  World  or  the  decision  of  the  people  in  that  campaign. 
The  Low  administration  was  not  free  from  grave  faults. 
But  it  resolutely  set  up  service  as  its  ideal.  Unfortu- 
nately, an  opportunity  was  soon  to  be  given  for  New 
York  to  swing  back  into  Tammany  rule. 

In  1897,  when  Strong  was  Mayor  and  New  York 
temporarily  in  revolt  against  Tammany,  the  Legislature 
had  fixed  the  Mayor's  term  in  the  city  charter  at  four 
years.  Croker  reaped  the  benefit  under  Van  Wyck. 
In  a  panic  at  the  result  the  Legislature  shortened  the 
term  to  two  years.  Mayor  Low  was  the  first  to  be 
elected  for  the  shorter  term,  and  had  barely  time  to  get 
well  under  way  with  an  administration  of  fine  beginnings 
when  he  was  ousted.  Later  the  term  was  again  made 
four  years,  and  it  so  remains. 

13 


XIV 

IN   PRAISE   OF  ROOSEVELT 

1902-1904 

The  Coal  Strike  and  President  Roosevelt's  Energetic  Action— Hill's  Socialistic 
Platform  in  New  York — Defeat  by  a  Narrow  Margin — The  Rise  of  a 
New  Power  in  Tammany  Hall — Murphy's  Skilful  Campaign  in  1903 — 
George  B.  McClellan's  Long  Service  as  Mayor — Hugh  McLaughlin's  Last 
Fight — The  Northern  Securities  Merger  Smashed  by  the  Supreme  Court — 
Growing  Power  of  the  President — Some  Early  Misgivings. 

A  GREAT  mistake  would  be  his  who  should  fancy  that 
because  The  World  has  criticized  many  of  Theodore 
Roosevelt's  policies  and  activities  it  has  been  his  never- 
satisfied  detractor.  No  paper  has  been  more  emphatic 
in  praising  him.  In  its  comments  upon  no  other  public 
man  has  it  more  often  verified  its  denial  that  it  was  a 
party  paper,  or  more  often  proved  its  "  independence  of 
bosses,  machines,  candidates  and  platforms." 

The  year  1902,  when  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  fresh  in  the 
President's  chair,  furnished  many  opportunities  for 
praise.  The  World  was  pleased  with  his  appointment  of 
Judge  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  to  the  Supreme  Court. 
In  calling  for  more  such  appointments  it  showed  the 
President  how  he  could  counter  upon  Mr.  Bryan.  If  a 
justice  like  Mr.  Shiras,  who  by  shifting  his  vote  on  the 
income  tax  created  an  issue  for  Mr.  Bryan,  were  to  retire 
and  if  President  Roosevelt  were  to  appoint  in  his  place 
another  man  of  the  type  of  Justice  Holmes  he  would  "add 
still  more  to  the  prestige  of  the  Supreme  Court  among 
those  very  followers  of  Mr.  Bryan  who  most  distrusted  it." 


IN    PRAISE    OF    ROOSEVELT       187 

The  victory  of  the  people  in  the  decision  of  Judge 
Thayer  against  the  Northern  Securities  merger  was 
hailed  with  satisfaction.  Judge  Thayer's  decision  is, 
The  World  said,  "of  the  highest  importance  as  a  long  step 
in  the  reaction  against  the  hitherto  triumphant  march  of 
monopoly  and  the  passion  for  ' combining'  anything  and 
everything." 

More  emphatic  was  the  commendation  of  Mr.  Roosevelt 
for  effecting  a  settlement  of  the  coal  strike  which  in  the 
autumn  of  1902  endangered  the  prosperity  and  even 
the  lives  of  the  people — for  if  by  that  fortune  which  waits 
upon  "  fools,  drunkards  and  the  United  States  of  America" 
the  ensuing  winter  had  not  been  mild  the  calamity  must 
have  been  appalling.  The  World  branded  the  attitude 
of  the  employers  in  refusing  arbitration  as  "unfair  to  the 
miners,  injurious  to  the  country  and  in  contemptuous 
defiance  of  public  opinion." 

The  object  of  the  trust  which  Mr.  Morgan  had  formed 
of  the  coal  railroads  was  to  break  the  miners'  union.  In 
this  The  World  predicted  failure.  When  Mr.  Roosevelt 
compelled  the  operators  to  consent  to  an^  arbitration 
arrangement  under  which  mining  could  be  resumed 
The  World  gave  him  the  heartiest  praise.  Work  was  not 
begun  too  soon.  The  need  of  coal  was  urgent.  Schools 
and  hospitals  were  with  difficulty  kept  open.  Shade  trees 
were  in  some  cases  chopped  down  for  firewood.  Many 
dealers  required  physicians'  prescriptions  before  yielding 
up  the  precious  fuel  at  triple  prices.  In  such  conditions 
of  public  suffering,  which  continued  long  after  mining 
was  recommenced,  the  board  of  arbitrators,  headed  by 
Judge  Gray,  of  Delaware,  produced  the  sliding  scale  of 
wages  which  has  since  been  the  basis  of  agreements. 

An  echo  of  the  coal  strike  in  the  politics  of  New  York 
State  once  more  illustrated  how  foolish  is  the  politician 
who  relies  upon  claptrap.  The  Governorship  was  again 
in  question.  The  World  recognized  that  upon  his  record 


188  THE    STORY   OF   A   PAGE 

Mr.  Odell  would  be  a  strong  candidate;  that  "as  a  cor- 
poration -  taxer,  a  reformer  and  a  sensible,  practical, 
independent  executive — the  most  successful  since  Tilden, 
far  more  efficient  than  Roosevelt — he  would  certainly  be 
re-elected  could  he  stand  isolated  upon  the  record  of  his 
administration."  But  Odell,  because  of  the  forces  he 
represented,  could  be  beaten  by  a  candidate  of  the 
highest  type.  The  World  mentioned,  "not  as  candidates 
but  as  types,"  Edward  M.  Shepard,  Judge  Alton  B. 
Parker,  Justice  Peckham,  and  Judge  Gaynor.  Why,  with 
such  wealth  of  material,  Senator  Hill  selected  Mr.  Coler, 
already  past  his  maximum  strength,  was  a  mystery  soon 
forgotten  in  a  greater  blunder. 

This  was  Mr.  Hill's  plank  in  the  Democratic  state 
platform  declaring  in  the  name  of  the  followers  of  Thomas 
Jefferson  that  "We  advocate  the  national  ownership  and 
operation  of  the  anthracite-coal  mines  by  the  exercise  of 
the  right  of  eminent  domain." 

At  the  time  this  platform  was  adopted  a  coal-ownership 
plank  may  have  seemed  sharp  politics.  But  President 
Roosevelt,  who  knew  the  political  trade  even  better  than 
Senator  Hill,  by  compelling  arbitration  had  taken  the 
plank  from  under  Hill  and  left  him  dangling  in  air.  With 
the  miners  all  at  work  again  before  election  there  was 
little  excuse  for  the  travesty  of  Democratic  doctrine. 

The  World  supported  Coler  while  denouncing  the  Hill 
coal  plank.  Of  this  it  said: 

Whatever  the  principle  is,  it  is  not  original,  for  the  Populist 
national  platform  of  1896  .  .  .  declared  that  "the  Government 
should  own  and  operate  the  railroads  and  telegraph/7  the 
former  of  which  rank  with  coal  as  a  national  necessity;  and  the 
Social  Democratic  party  in  1900  pushed  this  doctrine  still 
further  toward  its  logical  end  in  demanding  "the  public  owner- 
ship of  all  gold,  silver,  copper,  lead,  iron,  coal  and  other  mines, 
and  all  oil  and  gas  wells." 

But,  passing  by  the  paternity  of  the  theory,  how  would  it 


IN    PRAISE    OF   ROOSEVELT       189 

work?  If  the  anthracite  mines  are  to  be  owned  by  the  Federal 
Government  and  operated  by  Federal  agents,  who  would  select 
and  control  these  agents?  Who  selects  the  Federal  office-holders 
in  Pennsylvania  now?  Is  there  one  of  them,  from  the  highest 
to  the  lowest,  who  is  not  appointed  by  Matt  Quay,  the  boss? 
Is  there  any  doubt  that  he  would,  so  long  as  the  Republicans 
hold  power,  select  and  dominate  every  supervisor  of  Federal 
coal-mining  and  dragoon  the  votes  of  this  great  army  of 
employees? 

The  national  government  could  no  more  secure  and 
operate  the  coal-mines  in  time  to  avert  a  coal  famine  than 
it  could  "cut  up  the  moon  under  the  'right  of  eminent 
domain '  and  divide  it  among  the  people."  The  plank  was 
not  a  menace;  like  the  silver  issue  in  1900,  it  was  a  handi- 
cap. The  World  begged  its  readers  not  to  vote,  through 
Odell,  for  a  second  term  of  Roosevelt  or  for  "a  Republican 
Congress  pledged  not  to  disturb  the  monopoly-protecting 
tariff."  It  placed  against  Roosevelt's  surrender  to  the 
tariff  stand-patters  McKinley's  later  view  of  the  need 
of  broadening  our  markets  abroad.  It  quoted  Charles 
M.  Schwab's  letter  to  H.  C.  Frick  in  1899: 

As  to  the  future,  even  on  low  prices,  I  am  most  sanguine. 
I  know  positively  that  England  cannot  produce  pig-iron  at 
the  actual  cost  for  less  than  $11.50  per  ton,  even  allowing  no 
profit  on  raw  materials,  and  cannot  put  pig-iron  into  a  rail 
with  their  most  efficient  works  for  less  than  $7.50  a  ton.  This 
would  make  rails  at  net  cost  to  them  at  $19.  We  can  sell  at 
this  price  and  ship  abroad  so  as  to  net  us  $16  at  works  for 
foreign  business,  nearly  as  good  as  home  business  has  been. 
What  is  true  of  rails  is  equally  true  of  other  steel  products. 
As  a  result  of  this  we  are  going  to  control  the  steel  business  of 
the  world. 

You  know  we  can  make  rails  for  less  than  $12  per  ton,  leaving 
a  nice  margin  on  foreign  business. 

The  election  result  was  a  surprise;  not  that  Odell  was 
elected,  but  that,  with  the  help  of  his  own  good  record  as 


190  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

Governor,  the  coal  plank  in  the  Democratic  platform,  and 
the  prestige  of  Roosevelt,  he  should  be  elected  by  only 
eight  thousand  votes.  This  narrow  result  proved  that 
"if  Judge  Parker  had  been  nominated  and  the  socialistic 
coal-ownership  plank  omitted — as  it  would  have  been 
under  his  candidacy — the  Democrats  would  have  carried 
the  State."  Common  sense  in  New  York  might  not  have 
been  without  effect  in  making  still  narrower  the  Republican 
majority  of  thirty  in  the  new  House  of  Representatives. 

The  World  had  as  little  success  in  seeking  to  stem  the 
current  that  next  year  swept  Tammany  back  into  control 
in  New  York. 

In  retiring  as  boss  of  Tammany  with  an  ample  fortune, 
to  become  a  sporting  country  gentleman  in  England, 
Richard  Croker  for  a  second  time  dropped  the  leadership 
with  a  string  attached  running  to  his  own  fist.  Once 
before  he  had  left  John  C.  Sheehan  in  charge  of  Tammany, 
and  a  few  months  later  had  returned  and  driven  him  from 
control.  Now,  at  the  beginning  of  1902,  he  had  left  the 
Hall  in  the  hands  of  Lewis  Nixon,  who,  finding  that  he 
could  not  so  conduct  Tammany  as  to  make  sponsorship 
tolerable,  resigned.  Of  him  The  World  said: 

By  squarely  recognizing  this  fact  and  retiring  from  a  position 
which,  as  he  says,  he  could  not  retain  without  losing  his  self- 
respect,  he  has  done  the  people  of  Greater  New  York,  as  well 
as  his  party,  a  large  service.  He  was  not  and,  under  existing 
conditions,  could  not  be  the  real  representative  of  the  men 
who  hold  Tammany  in  their  grip.  .  .  .  Mr.  Nixon  was  mis- 
representative  of  the  men  behind  and  around  him.  He  goes, 
and  gains  in  public  respect  by  going.  They  remain,  and  the 
popular  judgment  of  them  remains  also. 

Croker,  not  willing  or  not  in  health  to  resume  leadership, 
temporized  after  Nixon's  retirement  by  setting  up  a 
triumvirate,  composed  of  Daniel  F.  McMahon,  Louis  F. 
Haffen,  and  Charles  F.  Murphy — "a  two-spot,  a  joke  and 


IN    PRAISE    OF    ROOSEVELT       191 

a  sport,"  as  they  were  described  by  Chief  of  Police  Devery, 
retired.  Of  these  three  men  the  "  sport "  played  Napoleon 
to  his  Directorate.  The  campaign  of  1903  was  his  first; 
it  was  tactically  his  best. 

Mayor  Low's  administration  was  excellent,  but  hardly 
popular.  For  this  many  reasons  were  given,  not  always 
the  right  reasons  or  the  only  ones. 

Twenty  years  before,  when  he  was  twice  elected  as  a 
Republican  mayor  of  Democratic  Brooklyn,  Mr.  Low  had 
done  two  fine  things.  He  had  drawn  about  him  assistants 
of  the  best  kind,  and  he  had  taken  the  people  into  his 
confidence.  Perhaps  both  feats  were  easier  in  the  smaller 
city.  In  the  Brooklyn  of  1881-85  Mr.  Low  had  upon 
occasion  hired  the  Clermont  Avenue  Rink,  had  invited 
the  people  to  hear  him,  had  stood  before  them  without 
preliminary  music  or  chairman,  told  them  what  policies 
he  proposed,  and — even  if  it  were  higher  taxation  for  a 
neglected  community — had  carried  conviction.  In  the 
larger  city  such  an  improvised  town-meeting  was  impos- 
sible. Low's  appointments  were  generally  good,  but 
they  were  weakest  upon  the  firing-line. 

Particularly  was  he  unfortunate  in  the  Police  Depart- 
ment, where  he  placed  Col.  John  N.  Partridge,  whom  he 
had  used  in  the  same  capacity  in  Brooklyn.  Colonel 
Partridge  was  twenty  years  older,  New  York  was  many 
times  a  more  difficult  problem  in  1902  than  Brooklyn  in 
1882.  Police  administration  was  well-meaning  but  in- 
efficient, and  it  was  stained,  without  fault  at  its  head,  by 
a  grave  scandal  when  a  witness  against  police  graft,  one 
McAuliffe,  was  beaten  to  death  in  a  mysterious  manner — 
the  agents  of  his  death  being  presumably  policemen's 
clubs  and  the  place  possibly  a  police  station.  Toward  the 
end  of  his  term  Mayor  Low,  under  the  prodding  of  The 
World,  confided  the  Police  Department  to  Gen.  Francis 
Vinton  Greene,  a  man  of  military  experience,  ability,  and 
energy,  who  did  much  to  improve  its  efficiency. 


192  THE    STO.RY   OF   A   PAGE 

The  World  saw,  however,  that: 

It  has  been  the  misfortune  of  most  reform  administrations 
to  fail  of  re-election.  Some  of  their  appointments  proved 
disappointments.  Some  elements  in  the  fusion  failed  to  get 
the  share  of  offices  they  thought  themselves  entitled  to.  The 
"awful  example"  of  boss  rule  and  machine  misgovernment 
was  not  before  the  voters  to  inspire  them  to  action.  Indiffer- 
ence succeeded  enthusiasm,  and  "the  cat  came  back." 

William  Travers  Jerome,  the  Fusion  district  attorney, 
stated  in  August  that  Mayor  Low  could  not  be  re-elected, 
not  on  account  of  anything  he  had  "done  or  left  undone" 
as  Mayor,  but  because  of  the  "unlovable  personality  of 
the  man  himself."  "Egotism,  self-complacency  and 
constitutional  timidity,"  he  said,  "are  not  the  elements 
to  make  a  leader."  Unjust  as  the  statement  was,  it  was 
believed  by  many  people.  The  administration  had  made 
more  beginnings  than  it  was  able  in  so  short  a  time  to 
follow  up.  In  Brooklyn  a  borough  administration,  still 
a  standard  of  excellence,  had  been  furnished  by  J.  Edward 
Swanstrom  as  Borough  President  and  William  C.  Redfield, 
later  a  Representative  in  Congress  and  Secretary  of 
Commerce  in  President  Wilson's  Cabinet,  as  Commis- 
sioner of  Public  Works;  but  in  that  Low  stronghold  every 
shopkeeper  whose  encroaching  sign  had  been  removed 
from  the  sidewalk  was  in  revolt  against  the  law  and  its 
enforcers.  There  was,  besides,  the  "swing"  of  a  Dem- 
ocratic city. 

Despite  Mr.  Jerome's  warning  Mayor  Low  was  placed 
in  nomination,  and  The  World  unhesitatingly  commended 
the  choice: 

Besides  being  logical  and  courageous,  the  renomination  of 
Mayor  Low  was  deserved.  He  has  come  nearer  to  fulfilling 
the  pledges  upon  which  he  was  elected  than  any  Mayor  the 
city  has  had  in  fifty  years.  He  has  given  New  York  a  decent, 
honest,  efficient  and  businesslike  administration  —  "the  best 


IN    PRAISE    OF   ROOSEVELT       193 

this  city  has  ever  had,"  in  the  words  of  Mr.  Jerome,  on  August 
5th.  The  talk  of  unpopularity  can  only  be  tested  convincingly 
in  the  election. 

The  prospects  were  not  unfavorable.  But  if  the  Fusion 
forces  expected  from  the  new  leader  of  Tammany  the 
blundering  of  Croker's  later  campaigns  they  were  unde- 
ceived. Murphy  named  for  Mayor  George  B.  McClellan, 
treasurer  of  the  Bridge  Board,  ex-president  of  the  Board 
of  Aldermen,  and  later  a  Representative  in  Congress,  a 
man  popular  with  his  fellow-members,  of  excellent  ap- 
pearance and  education,  the  son  of  the  famous  Union 
general  who  in  1864  had  been  the  Democratic  candidate 
for  President  against  Abraham  Lincoln.  Of  Mr.  McClel- 
lan The  World  said: 

The  Tammany  candidate's  fair-sounding  speech  must  be 
judged  in  the  light  of  his  indorsement  two  years  ago  of  the 
shameless  administration  of  the  "unswerving  and  fearless 
Democrat,  Robert  A.  Van  Wyck,"  and  his  unblushing  declara- 
tion then  that  "we  have  nothing  for  which  to  apologize"; 
not  even  for  Devery  and  the  "red  lights,"  not  even  for  the  Ice 
Trust  and  the  Vice  Trust!  Mayor  Low  did  not  state  it  too 
strongly  in  declaring  in  his  Brooklyn  speech  that  "the  nomina- 
tion this  year  of  the  man  who  said  that  is  a  challenge  thrown 
in  the  face  of  the  city  by  Tammany  Hall." 

But  Murphy's  crowning  stroke  was  to  draw  from  the 
Fusion  ticket  two  Democratic  city  officials  and  candidates 
for  re-election,  Edward  M.  Grout,  the  Comptroller,  and 
Charles  V.  Fornes,  president  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen, 
later  a  Representative.  Both  consented;  Fusion  was 
obliged  to  seek  new  candidates.  Of  Mr.  Grout  The  World 
said: 

[His]  public  self-degradation  in  attending  the  Tammany 
notification  proceedings  and  pledging  his  support  to  the  boss's 
puppet  candidate  for  Mayor  is  lamentable  to  those  who  have 
felt  confidence  in  his  sincerity  and  his  unselfish  high  purposes. 


194  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

Hugh  McLaughlin,  the  veteran  boss  of  Brooklyn,  was 
no  snow-white  lamb,  but  he  had  preserved  a  few  preju- 
dices— among  them  a  dislike  for  protected  vice.  In  state 
matters  he  had  generally  acted  with  the  rural  Democrats 
against  Tammany.  He  believed  in  "  Brooklyn  auton- 
omy," and  did  not  wish  the  Tammany  tiger  to  "  cross 
the  bridge."  A  picturesque  figure  was  the  taciturn  old 
boss,  sitting  day  by  day  in  the  back  room  of  Kerrigan's 
auction-rooms,  a  dismantled  church  on  Willoughby  Street. 
McLaughlin  was  against  Murphy  with  something  of  an 
old  man's  feeling  toward  an  upstart.  He  faced  a  revolt 
within  the  Kings  County  organization,  headed  by  Patrick 
H.  McCarren,  the  "Tun  Sullivan  of  Brooklyn,"  who  "  with 
all  a  gambler's  desperation  staked  his  political  future" 
upon  the  indorsement  of  Grout  and  Fornes  by  the  Demo- 
cratic committee.  McLaughlin,  who  expressed  contempt 
for  the  two  backsliders,  held  the  committee  against  them. 
It  was  his  last  exploit;  perhaps  no  finer  feat  of  its  kind 
was  ever  performed  by  a  boss  than  this  victorious  stand 
of  the  old  lion  of  Willoughby  Street,  whose  "  noble 
victory,"  useless  as  it  proved,  won  The  World's  high  com- 
mendation. 

Into  this  hopeless  campaign  The  World  threw  itself 
with  as  much  vigor  as  it  had  done  six  years  before. 
Every  effort  was  made  to  stir  the  pride  of  the  people  in 
the  fact  that  theirs  was  no  mean  city,  and  that  for  the 
first  time  in  years  they  could  look  at  its  local  government 
without  a  blush: 

Carl  Schurz,  in  his  admirable  letter  in  support  of  the  Fusion 
ticket,  said  the  "Low  administration  has  given  the  world 
the  comforting  assurance  that  the  perplexing  problems  of  good 
municipal  government  in  the  large  American  cities  can  prac- 
tically be  solved."  And  yet  now,  he  exclaims,  with  pardonable 
heat,  "the  Tammany  freebooters  ask  us  to  put  that  municipal 
government  again  under  their  piratical  control!" 

This  is  the  heart  of  the  issue :  Shall  we  keep  on  or  turn  back? 


IN    PRAISE    OF    ROOSEVELT       195 

Will  the  friends  of  honest,  decent,  efficient,  businesslike 
municipal  government  fight  the  battle  through  and  secure 
firmly  the  fruits  of  victory  in  two  years  more  of  "the  best 
administration  New  York  ever  had,"  or  will  they  lose  all  that 
has  been  gained  and  dash  the  hopes  of  municipal  reformers, 
not  only  here,  but  throughout  the  country? 

The  question  was  kept  before  the  people  whether 
Mr.  McClellan,  "this  young  proteg6  of  the  bosses,  who 
had  always  'done  as  he  was  told7  and  never  shown  a  sign 
of  political  or  personal  independence,  was  likely  to  suc- 
ceed, where  Grant,  Gilroy  and  even  Hewitt  failed." 
Short  must  be  the  memory  of  the  man  who  could  not 
remember  how,  six  years  earlier,  when  it  was  known  that 
Van  Wyck  was  elected  Mayor,  "New  York  streets  wit- 
nessed such  a  saturnalia  of  diabolic  rejoicing"  as  they  had 
never  seen  before,  and  how  every  saloon  and  every  dive 
was  celebrating  "the  triumph  of  the  combined  and 
conspiring  evil  forces  of  the  community."  Did  the 
people  wish  the  repetition  of  that  scene  of  rejoicing? 
If  they  did  it  was  because  they  were  led  astray  by  the 
name  of  Democracy.  To  such  readers  there  was  an 
especial  appeal: 

The  supporters  of  Mr.  McClellan  proclaim  that  his  election 
would  have  a  great  influence  upon  the  State  and  national  elec- 
tions next  year. 

The  World  admits  it.  It  goes  further,  and  declares  its 
deliberate  conviction  that  the  success  of  the  Tammany  ticket 
on  Tuesday  next  would  destroy  any  chance  that  the  Democrats 
might  otherwise  have  of  electing  a  President  in  1904. 

What  are  the  lessons  of  history? 

Why  was  Tilden  nominated  and  elected  in  1876  against  the 
bitter  opposition  of  John  Kelly  and  the  Tammany  organiza- 
tion? Why  was  Cleveland  nominated  and  elected  in  1884  and 
again  in  1892,  in  spite  of  the  angry  protest  of  Tammany  Hall, 
voiced  by  Bourke  Cockran  and  Richard  Croker? 

Was  it  not  because  the  Democrats  of  the  nation  respected 


196  THE    STORY    OF   A    PAGE 

and  trusted  Tilden  and  Cleveland  "for  the  enemies  they  had 
made"?  Was  not  Tammany  hostility  regarded  as  a  certificate 
of  merit? 


In  the  election  the  Democrats  of  Brooklyn  did  ad- 
mirably; they  furnished  only  about  one  thousand  of  the 
sixty-two  thousand  plurality  which  made  McClellan 
Mayor  of  New  York  for  two  years,  with  a  re-election 
for  four  years  in  1905 — a  longer  period  than  any  Mayor 
had  held  that  office  since  Richard  Varick  of  1789.  "The 
moral  of  this  defeat/'  The  World  reflected  when  the  figures 
were  announced,  "is  plain  to  read :  The  next  Fusion  candi- 
date for  Mayor  must  be  a  Democrat  if  the  anti-Tammany 
forces  wish  to  carry  the  election.  There  are  some  preju- 
dices and  predilections  that  are  proof  against  argument." 
This  reasoning  had  much  to  do  with  The  World's  attitude 
six  years  later  in  favoring  the  election  of  William  J.  Gaynor, 
as  a  Democratic  chief  magistrate  of  a  Democratic  city. 

Thousands  of  Democrats  who  proved  Murphy's  skill 
in  nominating  Mr.  McClellan  by  voting  for  him  in  the 
expectation  that  he  would  be  his  own  man,  thousands  who 
did  not  join  the  rejoicings  in  the  death  of  reform,  be- 
wailed their  action  after  the  first  of  January,  when  McClel- 
lan appointed  a  cabinet  named  by  the  boss  in  a  deal  with 
the  Sullivans,  the  lords  of  the  lower  East  Side.  Certain 
appointments  credited  to  Mr.  McClellan's  own  choice, 
as  those  for  tenement  commissioner,  health  commissioner, 
police  commissioner,  and  others,  drew  less  criticism, 
though  these  men  were  not  in  all  cases  able  to  control 
their  departments.  The  five  borough  presidents  elected 
at  the  same  time  were  John  F.  Ahearn,  Louis  Haffen, 
Joseph  Cassidy,  Martin  W.  Littleton,  and  George  Crom- 
well. Of  these  five  men  the  three  first  named  were  on 
the  lowest  level  of  unfitness.  And  they  were  charter 
members  of  the  Board  of  Estimate,  through  which  New 
York  is  practically  governed  by  commission. 


IN    PRAISE    OF    ROOSEVELT       197 

This  period  of  The  World's  editorial  history  closes  as  it 
began  in  praise  of  Roosevelt.  The  Northern  Securities 
merger  was  an  outgrowth  of  the  semi-panic  of  1901.  A 
contest  having  arisen  between  two  groups  of  stock- 
jobbers for  the  control  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railway, 
the  price  of  its  shares  rose  on  '  Change  to  one  thousand 
dollars  each.  Punters  who  had  sold  short  were  ruined 
if  the  day  closed  without  relief.  It  came  in  a  notifica- 
tion from  Morgan  interests  that  peace  had  been  declared. 
The  truce  was  followed  by  a  treaty  that  united  the 
Northern  Pacific,  the  Great  Northern,  and  the  Burlington 
in  a  holding  company,  whose  shares  were  divided  in  pro- 
portions which  involved  gross  stock-watering.  The  death 
of  competition  and  the  substitution  of  a  carrying  monop- 
oly in  a  group  of  great  agricultural  states  was,  however, 
paramount  to  this  consideration.  Because  the  agree- 
ment set  up  monopoly  the  Supreme  Court,  upholding 
Judge  Thayer,  ordered  it  dissolved  and  its  stock-holdings 
redivided. 

Ungrudging  as  was  The  World's  praise  of  the  energy 
of  the  Roosevelt  administration  in  pushing  the  merger 
case,  it  could  not  be  blind  to  the  weapons  the  decision 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  President.  It  said  on  March 
15,  1904,  the  day  after  the  announcement: 

Politically,  the  effect  of  the  decision  can  hardly  be  exag- 
gerated. It  will  greatly  strengthen  President  Roosevelt  as  a 
candidate.  People  will  love  him  for  the  enemies  he  has  made. 
Mr.  Cleveland  lost  popularity  among  the  Democratic  masses 
by  not  enforcing  this  law.  Mr.  Roosevelt  will  gain  by  enforcing 
it.  It  cannot  now  be  said  that  the  Republican  party  is  owned 
by  the  trusts.  It  cannot  now  be  said  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  is 
controlled  by  them.  His  prospects  of  re-election  were  not  small 
before;  they  are  brighter  to-day,  and,  barring  some  act  of 
impetuous  unwisdom  on  his  part  before  November,  brighter 
they  will  remain.  But  in  the  last  analysis  it  is  not  the  President 
who  has  triumphed.  It  is  not  the  court.  It  is  not  the  law. 


198  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

It  is  the  people — the  plain  people  who  elect  Presidents  and  set 
up  courts  and  through  their  representatives  ordain  the  laws. 

Inseparable  from  the  possession  of  power  is  the  pos- 
sibility of  its  abuse.  Discussing  this  consequence  of  the 
decision,  The  World  said,  on  March  20th: 

The  power  of  the  President  even  before  the  Supreme  Court 
decision  in  the  Northern  Securities  case  was  enormous  beyond 
precedent. 

He  could  make  peace  and  war,  frame  treaties,  with  a  Senate 
cowed  into  merely  indorsing  his  acts,  or  form  alliances  with 
foreign  powers.  He  was  commander-in-chief  of  the  army  and 
navy  and  of  the  far  larger  army  of  over  200,000  civil  appointees, 
holding  the  very  means  of  subsistence  at  his  pleasure  or  the 
pleasure  of  his  subordinates.  Powers  and  attributes  gravi- 
tated to  him  as  the  nation  grew,  until  he  was  in  effect  the 
most  potent  ruler  on  earth. 

Now  comes  this  new  power  over  corporations,  a  power 
never  dreamed  of  by  the  framers  of  the  Constitution.  He 
can  unsheath  a  Damocles  sword  and,  chief  of  a  party  as  well 
as  head  of  the  people,  can  hang  it  over  the  head  of  the  finance, 
the  commerce  and  industry  of  the  nation.  .  .  . 

From  the  foundation  of  the  Government  the  President  has 
been  Executive.  Through  his  control  of  the  Attorney-General 
he  can  select  cases  for  presentation  to  the  court;  he  is  therefore 
largely  Judiciary.  By  executive  order  he  commands  the  service 
pension  at  which  Congress  balked;  he  is  therefore  Legislature. 
He  is  Everything.  He  is  Power.  He  is  Patronage.  He  is 
Protection.  He  is  Privilege.  .  .  . 

Whatever  their  past  politics  may  have  been,  many  newspaper 
organs  of  both  parties  are  to-day  all  for  State  rights.  They 
are  seeking  comfort  in  the  fact  that  the  decision  was  made  by 
a  single  vote,  forgetting  that  the  income-tax  decision  was  made 
and  remade  by  one  vote,  that  Mr.  Hayes  was  made  President 
by  one  vote — and  the  vote  of  a  Supreme  Court  Justice. 

They  are  vigorously  imploring  Congress  to  disenact  that 
which  it  has  enacted  and  to  reopen  for  Plutocracy  and  Monop- 
oly the  golden  way  that  led  straight  toward  the  Universal  Trust. 


IN    PRAISE    OF    ROOSEVELT       199 

Not  more  remarkable  than  the  amazing  futility  of  such  a 
demand  is  its  financial  unwisdom.  .  .  . 

Against  the  new  danger  what  means  may  avail?  There  are 
two  remedies.  One  can  be  applied  at  once  by  public  opinion. 
One  is  more  slowly  to  be  reached  through  legislation. 

There  should  be  specific  statutes  prohibiting  the  acceptance  of 
campaign  contributions  from  corporations.  The  infractions  of 
such  statutes  should  be  heavily  punishable  as  a  criminal  offense. 

The  term  of  the  President  should  be  six  years,  and  he  should 
be  ineligible  to  succeed  himself;  thus  there  would  be  removed  the 
temptation  to  use  this  great  power  for  his  personal  ends. 

And  for  the  quicker  remedy: 

It  is  to  be  sought  in  steadfast  resistance  by  the  press  and  by  the 
public  to  demagogues  and  agitators  of  the  Bryan  type,  who,  by 
appeals  to  passion  and  to  prejudice,  to  poverty  and  to  discontent, 
by  misrepresentation  and  the  abuse  of  the  prosperous,  by  clamor 
and  by  false  teaching,  seek  profit  or  place  or  power  at  the  cost  of 
the  common  weal. 

The  Presidential  power  over  corporations  was  to  be 
an  issue  in  the  coming  election  to  an  extent  not  fully  dis- 
covered even  in  these  forebodings. 


XV 

ALTON  BROOKS  PARKER 

1904 

How  Parker  Became  a  "Favorite  Son" — High  Finance  and  Practical  Politics 
Take  Possession  of  His  Campaign — Parker's  Gold  Telegram  to  the  St. 
Louis  Convention — The  Nomination  of  Judge  Herrick  for  Governor — 
Cortelyou  and  the  Republican  Campaign  Fund — The  Famous  "Ten  Ques- 
tions"—  Judge  Parker's  Challenge  —  President  Roosevelt's  Unqualified 
Denial — His  Re-election  the  "Triumph  of  Hope  Over  Experience" 

ALTON  B.  PARKER  was  the  only  Democrat  who  carried 
New  York  State  on  a  general  ticket  for  sixteen  years. 

In  1897,  immediately  following  the  first  Bryan  debacle, 
Mr.  Parker  was  chosen  chief  judge  of  the  Court  of  Appeals 
by  sixty  thousand  plurality  on  a  state  ticket.  Men  grew 
old  and  died,  children  matured  to  men  and  women  before 
the  feat  was  repeated  by  a  Democrat.  A  monotony  of 
defeat  fell  upon  the  party.  It  soon  became  a  common 
thing  for  disheartened  leaders,  looking  back  over  the 
record  of  disaster,  to  linger  at  the  figures  for  1897  and  to 
see  in  Judge  Parker  an  "  availability." 

Judge  Parker  owed  his  victory  mainly  to  Senator 
Plata's  nomination  of  a  Republican  candidate  for  Mayor 
of  New  York  against  Seth  Low  and  to  the  division  of  the 
Low  vote  between  Parker  and  his  opponent.  His  personal 
strength,  except  in  one  or  two  rural  counties,  had  nothing 
to  do  with  his  triumph.  But  if  Judge  Parker  had  been 
merely  an  accident  the  Democratic  party  would  not  have 
been  considering  him  seven  years  later  as  a  Moses  to  lead 
it  out  of  bondage.  He  was  a  strong  chief  judge  of  the 


ALTON  BROOKS  PARKER    201 

highest  court  of  New  York,  a  court  that  had  never  fallen 
into  full  control  of  either  Tammany  boss  or  Republican 
machine.  He  was  broad  in  his  views  of  public  questions, 
and  his  influence  was  liberal  in  decisions  upon  constitu- 
tional questions  affecting  the  rights  of  working-men. 

For  two  years  Mr.  Bryan  had  renewed  in  addresses 
in  every  part  of  the  country  his  fight  for  free  silver — a 
hopeless  fight,  but  full  of  hope  for  the  favorites  of  priv- 
ilege. The  World  protested  against  having  this  burden 
tied  about  the  neck  of  Democracy.  The  fact  that  in  1903 
most  of  the  Democratic  state  conventions  had  dropped 
the  "body  of  death"  from  their  platforms  encouraged 
it  to  hope  that  "sense,  sanity  and  sagacity  will  rule  the 
National  Convention  this  year  and  give  the  party  at  least 
a  fighting  chance  to  win  by  deserving  to  win." 

Of  all  candidates  The  World  would  have  preferred 
Mr.  Cleveland.  He  was  the  man  whose  name  meant  not 
only  victories,  but  the  issues  that  had  won  victories,  and 
particularly  the  issue  of  the  reform  of  the  tariff. 

But  Mr.  Cleveland,  as  in  1896,  was  impossible  even  if 
he  had  not  refused  to  be  considered.  The  Bryan  elements 
were  still  in  full  control  of  the  party  in  the  West,  and, 
while  they  might  consent  to  the  nomination  of  a  can- 
didate representing  the  other  wing  of  the  party,  they 
would  have  interposed  to  Cleveland's  name  an  absolute 
veto.  In  the  circumstances  the  legend  of  Parker's 
strength  in  New  York,  aided  by  some  deft  preliminary 
work  by  his  supporters,  made  him  the  leading  figure  in  the 
field. 

The  World  was  not  optimistic  of  the  outcome.  Some 
encouragement  was  afforded  by  the  action  of  Governor 
Odell  in  taking  the  chairmanship  of  the  Republican  State 
Committee. 

From  the  point  of  view  of   partisan  advantage  [said  The 
World]  Democrats  can  afford  to  regard  this  deal  with  com- 
14 


202  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

placency.  Gov.  Odell  is  President  Roosevelt's  only  rival  as  a 
vote-reducer.  In  1896  McKinley  carried  New  York  by  268,469. 
Two  years  later  Roosevelt  squeezed  through  on  Croker's  bull- 
headed  blundering  by  less  than  18,000.  At  his  first  election 
as  Governor,  in  1900,  Odell  had  a  plurality  of  111,000.  Two 
years  later  he  lost  more  than  100,000  of  this,  receiving  only 
8,803.  With  these  two  maj ority-choppers  united  in  "conducting 
the  campaign"  the  Democrats  ought  to  be  able  to  carry  New 
York  by  a  rousing  plurality. 

But  even  the  faint  hope  awakened  by  an  adversary's 
blunder  was  darkened  by  worse  than  blunders  on  the 
other  side.  In  the  pre-convention  stage  Mr.  Parker  was 
silent  upon  the  issues  of  the  campaign.  The  World  urged 
him  to  speak  out,  assuring  him  that  the  people  were  not 
to  be  won  in  a  still  hunt.  His  candidacy  had  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  a  combination  of  high  finance,  represented  by 
August  Belmont  and  Thomas  F.  Ryan,  and  practical 
politics,  represented  by  William  F.  Sheehan,  ex-boss  of 
Buffalo.  They  doubtless  counseled  silence;  and  at  the 
New  York  convention  in  April  they  played  politics  by  a 
bid  for  Western  support,  against  which  The  World 
promptly  protested: 

1.  The  omission  of  a  declaration  in  favor  of  the  historic 
Democratic  principle  of  sound  money  seems  to  us  a  great 
mistake. 

2.  The  abandonment  of  the  protest  against  the  Philippine 
acquisition  and  the  general   policy  of  imperial   colonialism, 
which  was  so  justly  and  forcibly  made  in  the  Kansas  City  plat- 
form, is  a  second  mistake  of  short-sighted  politics — more  and 
worse  "trimming." 

3.  The  declaration  of  "opposition  to  trusts  and  combinations 
that  oppress  the  people  and  stifle  healthy  industrial  competi- 
tion" is  feeble  and  pointless. 

4.  The  selection  of  the  four  delegates-at-large  was  another 
mistake.    The  names  are  disappointing.    They  will  command 
neither  respect  at  home  nor  influence  at  St.  Louis.    [They 


ALTON  BROOKS  PARKER    203 

were  David  B.   Hill,   Senator  Edward  Murphy,  Jr.,  George 
Ehret,  a  wealthy  brewer,  and  James  W.  Ridgway.] 

To  add  to  the  incongruities  between  the  platform  and  the 
men  selected  to  represent  it  the  name  of  James  T.  Woodward, 
the  astute  President  of  the  Hanover  Bank  and  a  prominent 
member  of  the  Morgan  syndicate  that  bedeviled  President 
Cleveland's  administration — a  combination  which  The  World 
had  the  pleasure  of  smashing — appears  as  the  first  Presidential 
elector-at-large!  Why  and  wherefore  Woodward? 

The  World  forced  Woodward  off  the  electoral  ticket. 
In  effect  it  forced  the  party  to  stand  by  sound  money. 
But  much  mischief  was  already  done. 

When  on  July  6th  the  Democratic  national  convention 
met  in  St.  Louis  the  fact  became  manifest  that,  though 
Mr.  Bryan  was  not  to  be  the  candidate,  his  spirit  ruled, 
and  that  the  party  purposed  to  go  down  to  a  third  defeat 
without  disavowing  free  silver.  The  World  had  con- 
tinued urging  Judge  Parker  to  speak  out  for  "the  accom- 
plished fact"  of  the  gold  standard.  On  the  eve  of  the 
adoption  of  the  platform  it  reminded  him  that  ten 
words  from  him  would  insure  a  sound -money  resolu- 
tion. 

The  convention  that  nominated  Mr.  Roosevelt  had 
thus  challenged  Democracy: 

The  maintenance  of  the  gold  standard,  established  by  the  Republican 
party,  cannot  safely  be  committed  to  the  Democratic  party,  which 
resisted  its  adoption  and  has  never  given  any  proof  since  that  time 
of  belief  in  it  or  fidelity  to  it. 

The  answer  of  the  St.  Louis  convention  was  silence. 
There  were  delegates  who  wished  a  plank  in  the  platform 
recognizing  the  gold  standard  as  an  established  fact,  but 
Mr.  Bryan  defeated  them  in  an  all-night  struggle.  On 
July  9th — the  day  he  received  the  nomination  upon  the 
final  ballot — Judge  Parker  sent  this  telegram,  which  was 
given  out  the  following  morning: 


204          THE  STORY  OP  A  PAGE 

HON.  WILLIAM  F.  SHEEHAN, 
Hotel  Jefferson. 

I  regard  the  gold  standard  as  firmly  and  irrevocably  established, 
and  shall  act  accordingly  if  the  act  of  the  convention  to-day  shall 
be  ratified  by  the  people. 

As  the  platform  is  silent  on  the  subject,  my  view  should  be  known 
to  the  convention,  and  if  it  is  proved  to  be  unsatisfactory  to  the 
majority  I  request  you  to  decline  the  nomination  for  me  so  that 
another  may  be  nominated  before  adjournment. 

ALTON  B.  PARKER. 

It  was  too  late  to  retreat.  Democracy  was  committed 
in  roundabout  fashion  to  sound  money.  The  Parker 
telegram  was  presented  to  the  convention,  and  the  follow- 
ing reply  was  drafted  by  John  Sharp  Williams,  of  Mis- 
sissippi: 

The  platform  adopted  by  this  convention  is  silent  on  the  question 
of  the  monetary  standard  because  it  is  not  regarded  by  us  as  a  possible 
issue  in  this  campaign,  and  only  campaign  issues  are  mentioned  in 
the  platform.  Therefore  there  is  nothing  in  the  views  expressed  by 
you  in  the  telegram  just  received  which  would  preclude  a  man  enter- 
taining them  from  accepting  a  nomination  on  said  platform. 

Not  an  auspicious  beginning  for  a  campaign  was  this 
belated  and  grudging  avowal! 

There  was  still  the  Governorship  of  New  York  to  be 
considered.  The  Republicans  selected  for  that  honor 
State  Senator  Frank  Higgins,  a  man  of  good  legislative 
record  who  could  be  trusted  not  to  be  too  restive  under  the 
machine  yoke.  Not  without  much  urging  Mr.  Higgins 
was  later  to  do  the  state  as  fine  a  service  as  lies  to  the 
credit  of  its  greatest  executives. 

Of  the  choice  of  a  Democratic  candidate  The  World 
spoke  in  reminiscent  mood: 

David  B.  Hill  .  .  .  nominated  himself  for  Governor  twice, 
and  was  twice  elected.  He  allowed  Croker  to  nominate  him 
a  third  time,  and  was  overwhelmingly  defeated.  .  .  . 


ALTON  BROOKS  PARKER    205 

Hill  and  Croker  together  nominated  Roswell  P.  Flower  for 
Governor,  a  man  who  could  not  write  a  grammatical  sentence, 
but  who  had  the  money  to  secure  Croker,  and  through  him  the 
nomination. 

In  1898,  when  Robert  B.  Van  Wyck,  the  most  corrupt  and 
incompetent  Mayor  New  York  has  known  since  the  Tweed 
Ring,  was  scandalizing  the  party  in  this  city,  Croker,  with  HilPs 
acquiescence,  nominated  Augustus  Van  Wyck  for  Governor. 
No  grosser  insult  to  public  decency  could  have  been  conceived. 
.  .  .  Yet  such  was  the  vitality  of  the  Democratic  party  that 
this  candidate  came  within  18,000  votes  of  being  elected. 

Two  years  later  Hill  nominated  his  law  partner,  Stanchfield, 
a  cheap  country  politician,  the  defender  of  Brockway's  enormi- 
ties in  the  Elmira  Reformatory,  an  advocate  of  imperialism, 
the  type  of  everything  that  a  Democratic  leader  should  not  be. 

Why  not  let  the  Democracy  this  year  make  its  own  nom- 
ination? 

In  1902  there  was  every  prospect  of  Democratic  victory.  .  .  . 
But  Hill  had  White-House  hopes  himself  at  that  time.  He 
did  not  want  a  candidate  of  Presidential  size,  and  so  he  nomi- 
nated Coler,  .  .  .  against  whom  even  Odell  managed  to  scrape 
out  a  victory  by  8,000  plurality.  .  .  . 

The  question  was  settled  by  the  selection  of  Judge 
D-Cady  Herrick,  of  Albany,  a  man  of  marked  ability. 
Judge  Herrick,  The  World  said,  had  "wide  knowledge  of 
the  State  government.  He  has  courage.  He  fought  Hill. 
He  fought  Tammany  in  the  past.  He  has  no  passion  for 
money-making.  He  is  above  pecuniary  influences.  He 
wears  no  man's  collar." 

The  tariff  was  the  great  historic  issue  upon  which 
Democracy  had  twice  carried  the  country.  By  its  folly 
at  St.  Louis  it  was  jockeyed  into  a  defensive  position 
upon  finance.  Vain  was  the  effort  to  draw  attention  to 
the  purpose  of  privilege  to  retain  its  hold.  "Mr.  Roose- 
velt," said  The  World,  "adopts  the  cant  of  the  spellbinder 
about  the  tariff  as  a  prop  to  the  standard  of  living  of  our 
wage-earners  (the  Carnegies,  the  Fricks  and  the  Schwabs)  9 


206  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

but  he  does  it  with  an  air  of  sheepishness  which  shows 
that  the  Harvard  free-trader  is  a  little  ashamed  of  his 
enforced  disguise."  Useless  was  the  attempt  to  get 
people  interested  in  the  facts  as  to  the  recent  hard  times, 
that  "the  panic  which  occurred  under  the  McKinley 
tariff  was  caused  by  the  Republican  Sherman  silver 
law,  and  that  under  the  Wilson  tariff  the  times  began  to 
improve."  The  tariff  was  not  the  issue  that  counted 
most. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  campaign  the  growing  scandal  of 
the  appointment  of  George  B.  Cortelyou  as  chairman  of 
the  Republican  National  Committee  made  a  new  issue 
that  superseded  even  silver.  Here  The  World  succeeded 
better  than  with  the  tariff  in  shifting  the  fighting-ground; 
and,  though  the  contest  was  lost,  momentous  results  have 
continued  to  flow  out  of  the  controversy. 

Mr.  Cortelyou,  beginning  work  in  Washington  as  a 
stenographer  in  the  Post-office  Department,  had  risen  to 
be  the  Secretary  to  the  President,  and  later  Secretary  of 
the  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  under  which 
the  work  of  collating  facts  concerning  trusts  was  carried 
on  by  the  Bureau  of  Corporations.  The  impropriety  of 
taking  the  head  of  this  department  to  be  the  "fat-fryer" 
of  a  campaign  for  protected  corporations  scarcely  needed 
to  be  stated. 

On  October  1st  Joseph  Pulitzer  personally  signed  in 
The  World  an  editorial  article  addressing  to  President 
Roosevelt  ten  questions  which  have  become  famous: 

1.  How   much    has   the   Beef   Trust    contributed    to    Mr. 
Cortelyou? 

2.  How  much   has  the   Paper  Trust   contributed   to   Mr. 
Cortelyou? 

3.  How   much    has   the   Coal    Trust    contributed    to    Mr. 
Cortelyou? 

4.  How  much  has  the  Sugar  Trust  contributed  to  Mr, 
Cortelyou? 


ALTON  BROOKS  PARKER    207 

5.  How    much    has    the    Oil    Trust    contributed    to    Mr. 
Cortelyou? 

6.  How  much  has  the  Tobacco  Trust  contributed  to  Mr. 
Cortelyou? 

7.  How   much   has   the   Steel   Trust   contributed   to   Mr. 
Cortelyou? 

8.  How  much  has  the  Insurance  Trust  contributed  to  Mr. 
Cortelyou? 

9.  How  much  have  the  national  banks  contributed  to  Mr. 
Cortelyou? 

10.  How  much  have  the  six  great  railroad  trusts  contributed 
to  Mr.  Cortelyou? 

"I  observe,"  the  article  continued,  "by  your  letter  of 
acceptance  that  in  spite  of  the  secrecy  and  silence  of  your 
Bureau  of  Corporations  you  are  still  in  favor  of  publicity." 
Mr.  Pulitzer  suggested  that  President  Roosevelt,  if  he 
really  favored  publicity,  should  write  a  letter  to  Mr. 
Cortelyou  demanding  that  he  make  public  all  the  informa- 
tion he  possessed  concerning  contributions  by  corporations 
or  others  interested  in  Republican  success,  or  concerning 
agreements,  express  or  implied,  entered  into  with  such 
contributors.  If  the  information  were  given,  the  article 
continues — 

.  .  .  would  it  not  fully  explain  why,  after  583  days,  there 
has  been  no  official  publicity  as  to  the  affairs  of  the  corporations 
whose  business  has  been  investigated  by  Mr.  Cortelyou  and 
his  successor? 

Would  it  not  explain  why  the  corporations  that  opposed  you 
in"  March  are  supporting  you  now? 

Would  it  not  explain  the  rearrangement  of  your  Cabinet?  .  .  . 

Would  it  not  explain  the  princely  contributions  to  your 
campaign  fund  which  are  pouring  in  from  every  corner  of  the 
country?- 

Would  it  not  explain  why  all  the  kings  of  finance  who  were 
clamoring  for  your  political  life  now  believe  that  the  best 
interests  of  the  country  will  be  served  by  your  election?  .  .  . 

Would  it  not  reveal  to  the  American  people  how  preposterous 


208  THE    STORY   OF   A   PAGE 

is  your  pretext  of  danger  to  the  Republic  from  foreign  enemies 
and  how  real  is  the  danger  to  the  Republic  from  its  enemies 
at  home? 

Of  the  workings  of  the  Bureau  of  Corporations  as  a 
preliminary  to  trust  legislation  or  court  prosecution  the 
article  said: 

The  first  thing  to  do,  as  you  said  in  your  speech  at  Wheeling, 
was  to  "find  out  the  facts."  Your  initial  step  was  to  appoint 
as  your  Secretary  of  Commerce  your  private  secretary,  George 
B.  Cortelyou.  The  Bureau  of  Corporations  was  organized 
February  26,  1903 — more  than  19  months,  more  than  80  weeks 
— exactly  583  days  ago — yes,  exactly  583  days  ago. 

Will  you  kindly  tell  the  country: 

1.  After  these  583  days  of  supposed  activity  and  official 
duty  how  much  more  does  the  public  know  about  the  conduct 
and  management  of  these  great  corporations  than  it  knew 
before? 

2.  After  these  583  days  of  supposed  activity  and  official  duty 
what  single  witness  has  been  subpoenaed?  .  .  . 

3.  After  these  583  days  of  supposed  activity  and  official  duty 
what  documentary  evidence  has  been  produced? 

4.  After  these  583  days  of  supposed  activity  and  official  duty 
what  corporation  magnate  has  been  compelled  to  testify  under 
oath  as  to  secret  rebates  on  freight  charges  or  other  acts  of 
conspiracy  in  restraint  of  trade?  .  .  . 

Is  there  a  corporation  in  the  United  States,  Mr.  President, 
whose  affairs  are  administered  in  greater  secrecy  than  are  the 
affairs  of  your  Bureau  of  Corporations? 

Yet  in  your  letter  of  acceptance  you  have — may  I  call  it  the 
magnificent  audacity? — to  declare  of  the  act  creating  this 
bureau  and  of  the  related  acts: 

"  These  laws  are  now  being  administered  with  entire 
efficiency." 

The  cry  had  been  heard  that  moneyed  interests  were 
building  up  a  vast  fund  to  elect  Judge  Parker;  so  much 
harm  the  association  of  Belmont  and  Sheehan  and  Ryan 


ALTON  BROOKS  PARKER    209 

had  done  him.  "Cortelyou"  was  the  retort.  The  World 
hammered  at  these  queries  day  after  day.  Finally  upon 
October  24th  Judge  Parker,  in  a  speech  at  his  home  in 
Esopus,  asked,  "  Would  the  public  interests  be  safe  in 
the  hands  of  a  party  the  greater  part  of  whose  campaign 
funds  have  been  contributed  by  corporations  and  trusts?" 
Of  this  speech  The  World  said: 

Better  late  than  never!  At  last,  within  two  weeks  of  the 
election,  the  foremost  representatives  of  the  Democratic  party 
have  struck  the  true  keynote  of  an  aggressive  campaign: 
"Cortelyou  and  Corruption!" 

The  vigorous  speech  of  Judge  Parker  on  Monday,  following 
the  virile  address  of  Mr.  Cleveland  in  Carnegie  Hall,  showed 
that  at  last  the  leaders  understand  and  appreciate  the  real 
burning  issue  of  this  election.  .  .  . 

How  the  country  is  governed  by  interests  Judge  Parker 
indicated  with  perfect  clearness  in  his  speech  on  Monday: 

"When  such  forces  united  to  furnish  the  money  which  they 
are  promised  will  control  the  election,  their  purpose  is  as  clear 
as  noonday.  It  is  to  buy  protection,  to  purchase  four  years 
more  of  profit  by  tariff  taxation,  or  four  years  more  of  extortion 
from  the  public  by  means  of  monopoly." 

Finally  on  October  29th  Judge  Parker  said  with  a  cer- 
tain solemnity  of  phrase:  "The  trusts  are  furnishing  the 
money  with  which  they  hope  to  control  the  election.  I 
am  sorry  to  be  obliged  to  say  it:  If  it  were  not  true  I 
would  not  say  it  to  gain  the  Presidency  or  any  earthly 
reward." 

Upon  the  "Great  Moral  Issue  of  the  Campaign"  The 
World  on  November  5th  summed  up  the  campaign  in  an 
editorial  article  of  a  full  page.  This  review  said: 

The  President  does  not  explain  why  the  protected  industries 
are  pouring  money  into  his  campaign  fund. 

He  does  not  explain  why  the  trust  potentates  that  were 
clamoring  for  his  political  life  six  months  ago  are  now  enthusi- 


210  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

astically  supporting  his  candidacy  and  generously  assisting  in 
financing  it. 

He  does  not  explain  the  extraordinary  changes  in  his  Cabinet 
made  in  the  interests  of  the  corporations — the  removal  of  Mr. 
Knox  to  the  Senate;  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Metcalf,  the 
political  agent  of  the  Southern  Pacific,  to  be  Secretary  of  Com- 
merce; the  appointment  of  Mr.  Morton,  a  vice-president  of 
the  Santa  Fe,  to  be  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

He  does  not  explain  why  there  has  been  no  publicity  during 
the  619  days  of  supposed  investigation  by  the  Bureau  of 
Corporations. 

He  does  not  answer  the  ten  questions  asked  by  The  World. 

He  does  not  deny  that  Mr.  Cortelyou,  who  has  been  Secretary 
of  Commerce  and  is  now  Chairman  of  his  Campaign  Com- 
mittee, is  to  be  Postmaster-General,  to  make  important  con- 
tracts with  railroads  that  have  contributed  or  have  refused  to 
contribute  to  the  Republican  campaign  fund. 


Experienced  politicians  assumed  that  Judge  Parker 
possessed  proof  of  his  assertion.  He  doubtless  did  have 
assurances  that  proofs  would  be  furnished;  but  he  was 
disappointed.  Had  he  been  able  to  cite  one-half  of  the 
evidence  now  in  existence  he  need  not  have  been  so 
badly  beaten. 

Shortly  before  midnight  of  November  4th  President 
Roosevelt  issued  his  famous  reply  to  Judge  Parker.  With 
his  characteristic  skill  in  controversy  he  first  restated 
Judge  Parker's  challenge  to  his  own  satisfaction,  ignoring 
the  exact  wording  of  the  main  charge,  and  to  the  attack  as 
thus  shifted  he  replied:  "The  statements  made  by  Mr. 
Parker  are  atrociously  and  unqualifiedly  false." 

This  audacious  denial  produced  its  intended  effect. 
Nothing  in  recent  political  history  is  comparable  to  the 
stir  it  made,  with  the  exception  of  the  "Rum,  Romanism, 
and  Rebellion"  incident  at  the  close  of  Mr.  Elaine's  cam- 
paign in  1884.  The  word  of  a  President  carries  enor- 
mous weight.  Mr.  Roosevelt  would  in  any  case  have 


ALTON  BROOKS  PARKER    211 

been  elected;  but  Judge  Parker  lost  votes  by  failing  to 
prove  his  case. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  was  elected  by  a  plurality  of  2,545,515, 
not  so  much  because  Democrats  voted  for  him  as  because 
they  did  not  vote.  The  Bryan  wing  of  the  party  was 
disgusted  with  the  control  of  the  campaign  by  Judge 
Parker's  Wall  Street  friends,  and  they  ill  concealed  or 
openly  avowed  their  dissatisfaction.  The  number  of 
ballots  cast  was  smaller  than  it  had  been  eight  years 
before.  In  New  York  Judge  Herrick  was  badly  beaten,  and, 
like  Judge  Parker,  obliged  to  return  to  private  practice. 

So  the  election  was  over.  Reduction  of  taxation  was 
again  postponed.  Reforms  were  sidetracked  for  the 
Juggernaut  car  of  the  trusts. 

Upon  Mr.  Roosevelt's  triumph  The  World  commented: 

It  can  truly  be  said  of  the  people's  choice  of  Mr.  Roosevelt, 
as  Disraeli  said  of  the  man  who  married  a  second  time:  "It 
is  a  triumph  of  hope  over  experience."  If  President  Roosevelt 
will  be  satisfied  with  this  splendid  vote  of  confidence,  the 
climax  of  his  whole  career,  the  greatest  personal  triumph  ever 
won  by  any  President — if  he  will  strive  for  four  years  for  the 
place  in  history  to  which  his  earlier  ideals  would  have  bid  him 
aspire — the  popular  mandate  resisted  and  deplored  by  Demo- 
crats and  Independents  may  yet  redound  to  the  welfare  and 
the  true  glory  of  the  Republic. 

It  added  that  "his  announcement  that  he  will  not  be  a 
candidate  for  re-election  is  a  first,  firm  and  most  sagacious 
step  in  the  right  direction." 

So  The  World  was  beaten  in  its  fight — badly  beaten. 
When  next  it  met  the  President  it  was  to  win  for  itself 
and  for  the  independent  press  of  the  country  a  notable 
victory. 


XVI 
"EQUITABLE  CORRUPTION" 

1905-1906 

James  Hazen  Hyde  and  the  Struggle  for  the  Control  of  the  Equitable — 
"The  World"  Moves  for  a  General  House-Cleaning—Sale  of  the  Company 
to  Thomas  F.  Ryan  —  Governor  Higgins's  Reluctance  to  Move  for  an 
Investigation — The  Armstrong  Committee  and  Mr.  Hughes — Mr.  Perkins 
and  the  Republican  Campaign  Fund — The  Permanent  Good  Results  of  the 
Probe — The  Equitable  Now  in  the  Control  of  J.  Pierpont  Morgan — What 
Remains  to  Be  Done. 

THE  WORLD'S  unique  achievement  in  1905-06  was  its 
success  in  forcing,  single-handed,  the  reform  of  life  in- 
surance in  New  York  State,  against  the  opposition  of  the 
Governor  and  the  Legislature  and  great  business  interests. 

The  Equitable  Life  Assurance  Society  was  and  is  one 
of  the  strongest  in  the  world.  It  was  a  proprietary  com- 
pany. It  had  vast  assets  whose  control  was  an  important 
factor  in  finance,  and  over  this  control  a  dispute  broke 
out  in  the  directorate  in  the  latter  part  of  1904.  It  became 
public  in  an  attack  upon  James  Hazen  Hyde,  son  of 
Henry  B.  Hyde,  who  had  inherited  his  majority  stock. 
James  Waddell  Alexander  was  the  president  of  the  society 
and  the  trustee  to  whom  the  senior  Hyde  had  left  the 
control  of  his  son's  shares  during  a  period  he  thought 
sufficient  to  develop  independent  judgment.  At  the  end 
of  the  trusteeship,  which  was  now  approaching,  Hyde 
could  oust  the  president  and  upset  all  his  arrangements. 
This  was  the  real  reason  of  the  attack  upon  him.  The 
feud  was  at  once  embittered  by  counter-charges  in  Hyde's 
interest  against  the  Alexander  management. 


"EQUITABLE    CORRUPTION"      213 

Hyde  was  an  esthetic  soul  with  literary  and  artistic 
tastes,  no  match  in  strength  or  cunning  for  the  capitalists 
who  used  the  Equitable  millions  for  investment.  The 
campaign  against  him  gave  The  World  its  opportunity 
for  a  wider  purpose.  The  vastness  of  the  undertaking  is 
indicated  in  the  first  of  the  series  of  editorial  articles, 
headed  " Equitable  Corruption/'  which  forced  a  remedy: 

The  most  astounding,  far-reaching  financial  scandal  known 
to  the  history  of  the  United  States  is  approaching  its  climax  in 
the  battle  for  the  control  of  the  surplus  and  assets  of  the 
Equitable  Life  Assurance  Society. 

It  is  a  scandal  which  directly  involves  the  savings  of  600,000 
policy-holders  and  the  2,500,000  or  3,000,000  ultimate  benefi- 
ciaries of  these  policies.  .  .  . 

The  charges  against  James  H.  Hyde  are: 

First — That  the  cost  of  his  dinner  to  M.  Cambon,  the 
French  Ambassador;  his  expenses  in  Paris,  and  his  French 
Ball  at  Sherry's  were  charged  to  and  paid  out  of  the  Equitable's 
advertising  account. 

Second — That  he  placed  on  the  Equitable's  pay-roll  his 
personal  employees  and  servants,  who  rendered  no  service  to 
the  Equitable  for  the  salaries  they  received. 

Summed  up  in  the  language  of  the  petition  to  Attorney- 
General  Mayer,  the  charges  against  the  notable  financiers  in 
the  Equitable  directorate  are  that  the  funds  of  the  society  were 
"wastefully  and  wrongfully  taken"  by  them.  The  specifica- 
tions of  this  general  accusation  are  numerous: 

First — That  the  stock  in  the  Equitable  Trust  Company, 
owned  by  directors  in  the  Equitable  Society,  and  worth  $150 
per  share,  was  sold  by  them  to  the  Equitable  Society  for  $500 
per  share,  and  that  the  said  officials  "were  benefited  to  the 
amount  of  $2,000,000  or  more." 

Second — That  Jacob  H.  Schiff,  through  his  firm  of  Kuhn, 
Loeb  &  Co.,  sold  to  the  Equitable  Society  bonds  and  securities 
of  great  value  and  received  "large  sums  in  the  way  of  com- 
missions, of  which  sums  said  Jacob  H.  Schiff  has  received  a 
part." 

Third — That  the  securities  of  E.  H.  Harriman's  system  of 


214  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

railroads  and  the  Gould  railroads  were  sold  to  the  Equitable 
Society,  although  Mr.  Harriman  and  Mr.  Gould  were  members 
of  the  Board  of  Directors. 

Fourth — That  by  organizing  banks  and  trust  companies, 
the  stock  of  which  they  own,  and  by  depositing  the  money  of 
the  Equitable  Society  in  these  banks  and  trust  companies, 
individual  directors  personally  profited. 

Fifth — That  individual  directors  used  the  funds  of  the 
Equitable  Society  to  secure  control  of  great  corporations,  which 
they  reorganized,  and  then  sold  to  the  Equitable  Society  bonds 
and  other  securities  of  the  reorganization. 

The  World  saw  in  the  quarrel  the  opportunity  to  secure 
an  investigation  by  a  legislative  committee  of  the  whole 
subject  of  life  insurance  as  conducted  in  New  York. 
The  insiders  in  the  Equitable  would  have  been  more  than 
satisfied  with  an  investigation  by  the  State  Insurance 
Department.  This  important  office  had  long  been  the 
prey  of  hack  politicians.  "Does  any  legislator  think," 
The  World  demanded,  "that  the  600,000  policy-holders 
will  be  satisfied  with  a  secret  inquiry  by  a  Lou  Payn 
deputy  in  the  Insurance  Department  or  by  a  committee 
of  the  very  directors,  some  of  whom  may  have  forever 
forfeited  their  rights  to  act  in  that  capacity?"  A  com- 
mittee of  the  directors,  the  Frick  Committee,  was,  in 
fact,  appointed.  It  dipped  gingerly  into  the  mud  and 
made  recommendations,  excellent  as  far  as  they  went, 
which  the  directors  rejected. 

Day  after  day  The  World  hammered  at  the  disclosures. 
Day  after  day  it  reminded  the  Governor  of  his  duty.  It 
was  to  be  Mr.  Higgins's  unkindly  fate  to  be  subjected  to 
an  ordeal  more  stern  than  had  faced  any  predecessor  since 
the  Civil  War,  to  hesitate  long,  to  put  his  name,  finally, 
to  some  of  the  best  laws  ever  passed  in  the  state,  and  yet 
to  be  denied  a  renomination  when  his  party  was  in  the 
best  repute  it  had  enjoyed  for  years. 

The  World  applied  other  pressure  by  printing  the  names 


"EQUITABLE    CORRUPTION"      215 

of  the  directors  of  the  Equitable;  though  these  names 
included  some  of  the  best  known  in  New  York — names 
such  as  Jacob  H.  Schiff,  John  Jacob  Astor,  Levi  P.  Morton, 
Alfred  G.  Vanderbilt,  E.  H.  Harriman,  and  Marvin 
Hughitt — nearly  all  were  dummy  directors.  They  did 
not  own  the  stock  in  the  company  that  would  legally 
qualify  them  to  act.  Some  were  doubly  dummies,  taking 
no  share  in  the  administration  of  the  company;  some  were 
in  schemes  of  promotion  and  investment,  in  which  the 
company  was  staged  as  the  rural  dunce  who  buys  the 
gold  brick.  Under  this  management  the  returns  to  policy- 
holders  had  fallen  from  the  best  standards,  though  their 
principal  was  not  impaired.  How  the  deal  was  operated 
The  World  explained: 

When  Mr.  James  Hazen  Hyde  had  come  of  age  he  was  elected 
Vice-President  of  the  Equitable,  the  office  which  his  father  had 
honorably  filled  for  so  many  years.  .  .  .  The  owners  of  rail- 
roads, the  officers  of  banks,  the  partners  of  banking  firms, 
saw  in  young  Hyde's  weakness,  his  vanity,  his  social  aspira- 
tions, his  fads,  the  opportunity  for  them  to  use  for  their  own 
venal  purposes  the  funds  which  should  have  been  held  sacred 
to  the  widows  and  orphans  of  the  future.  .  .  . 

These  men  made  James  Hazen  Hyde  director  in  their  trust 
companies,  banks  and  railroads.  In  return  Mr.  Hyde  had  them 
recorded  in  the  stock  book  of  the  Equitable  as  the  owners  of 
five  shares  each  of  his  stock,  and  thus  ostensibly  qualified  them 
to  be  trustees  of  this  great  fiduciary  fund. 

All  told,  they  made  James  Hazen  Hyde  director  in  forty-six 
corporations — this  young  man  not  yet  out  of  the  swaddling 
clothes  twined  round  him  by  his  father's  will. 

They  made  him  director  in  these  railroads: 

The  Southern  Pacific  and  the  Union  Pacific  and  their  depen- 
dent lines,  the  Oregon  Railroad  and  Navigation  Company,  the 
Oregon  Short  Line  Company,  the  Texas  and  Pacific,  the  Mis- 
souri Pacific,  the  Wabash,  the  Western  Maryland,  the  Long 
Island,  the  Delaware  and  Hudson,  the  Manhattan  Elevated, 
the  New  York  City  Railway  Company,  the  Metropolitan 


216          THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

Securities  Company,  which  controls  the  surface  lines  of  New 
York;  the  constituent  companies  of  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Tran- 
sit system  and  the  London  Underground  Railway. 

They  made  him  director  in  these  banks : 

National  Bank  of  Commerce,  American  Surety  Company, 
Fifth  Avenue  Trust  Company,  Greenwich  Savings  Bank,  Com- 
mercial Trust  Company  of  Philadelphia,  Crocker-Woolworth 
National  Bank  of  San  Francisco,  Fidelity  Trust  Company  of 
Newark,  First  National  Bank  of  Chicago,  First  National  Bank 
of  Denver,  Franklin  National  Bank  of  Philadelphia,  Mellon 
National  Bank  of  Pittsburg,  Missouri  Safe-Deposit  Company 
of  St.  Louis,  Security  Safe-Deposit  Company  of  Boston,  Union 
Exchange  Bank  of  New  York,  Union  National  Bank  of  Newark, 
Union  Savings  Bank  of  Pittsburg. 

They  made  him  director  in  these  trust  companies: 

Equitable  Trust  Company,  Mercantile  Trust  Company,  Mer- 
cantile Safe-Deposit  Company,  Lawyers*  Title  and  Trust 
Company,  Lawyers'  Mortgage  Company. 

They  made  him  director  in  these  corporations: 

The  Colorado  Fuel  and  Iron  Company,  Continental  Insurance 
Company,  International  Mercantile  Marine,  or  "Shipping 
Trust,"  Mercantile  Electric  Company,  Westinghouse  Electric 
Company,  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company. 

In  return  Mr.  Hyde  made  them  directors  in  the  Equitable 
and  gave  them  in  this  one  directorate  immeasurably  greater 
opportunity  for  personal  benefit  than  he  had  in  his  forty-six. 

Gradually  the  old  directors  of  the  Equitable  had  dropped 
out,  and  in  their  places  were  put  the  dummy  directors  qualified 
by  Mr.  Hyde's  stock,  until  thirty-seven  of  the  fifty  were  not 
directors,  but  directed;  not  elected,  but  selected;  not  the 
guardians,  but  the  manipulators  of  the  assets.  .  .  . 

This  was  the  situation  when  the  clash  came  between  Alex- 
ander and  Hyde.  The  term  of  the  deed  of  trust  was  presently 
to  expire,  when  Mr.  Alexander's  trusteeship  would  cease  and 
Mr.  Hyde  would  become  sole  controller  of  the  society. 

At  this  juncture  President  Alexander  presented  to  Mr.  Hyde 
a  request,  signed  by  many  officers  of  the  company,  that  Mr. 
Hyde  should  withdraw  from  the  Equitable  and  surrender  its 
control. 


"EQUITABLE    CORRUPTION"      217 

Governor  Higgins  was  most  reluctant  to  interfere;  but 
by  a  series  of  startling  disclosures  by  The  World,  cul- 
minating in  the  publication  of  a  report  by  Superintendent 
Hendricks  upon  *the  Equitable  troubles  which  had  been 
withheld  from  circulation  in  the  hope  that  the  storm 
would  blow  over,  he  was  forced  in  the  end  to  capitulate 
and  advise  the  appointment  of  a  legislative  committee  to 
investigate  "  Equitable  corruption "  and  the  cognate  cor- 
ruption its  discussion  had  revealed.  A  committee  was 
selected  with  Senator  William  W.  Armstrong,  of  Rochester, 
as  chairman.  On  the  Republican  side  it  was  of  excellent 
quality.  The  Democratic  members  revealed  the  poverty 
of  talent  to  which  the  boss  system  reduces  a  great  city's 
representatives  in  a  great  state.  Whatever  character  the 
committee  possessed  came  from  the  country  districts. 
Representing  the  metropolis,  where  the  insurance  busi- 
ness had  its  home,  sat  two  Democrats  of  the  familiar 
machine  type;  of  one  of  whom,  Dan  Riordan,  The  World 
said  his  " strength  in  the  politics  of  the  lower  East  Side" 
had  come  largely  from  "the  multiple  voting  of  Monk 
Eastman's  gang.'7  That  such  men  should  be  set  to 
cleanse  and  cure  insurance  corruption  seemed  a  grim  joke. 

But  the  investigation  would  depend  for  success  upon  the 
chief  counsel  chosen.  Another  of  The  World's  long 
fights  had  recently  ended  in  the  appointment  of  a  legisla- 
tive committee  to  investigate  the  Gas  Trust  in  New  York 
as  a  preliminary  to  cutting  down  its  charges.  The  Gas 
Committee  had  appointed  as  counsel  an  attorney  little 
known  to  the  people,  though  of  high  repute  in  his  profes- 
sion, who  had  shown  in  the  inquiry  a  patience  and  per- 
sistence that  brought  admirable  results.  Charles  Evans 
Hughes  was  forty-three  years  old.  He  had  been  a 
teacher,  a  law  professor  and  lecturer,  and  was  then  in 
private  practice. 

The  World  was  asked  on  behalf  of  the  Armstrong 
Committee  to  suggest  plans  for  procedure  and  to  name  a 

15 


218  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

chief  counsel.  Flattering  as  was  this  recognition  of  its 
work  in  forcing  the  inquiry,  acceptance  could  not  be 
considered.  Those  who  represented  the  committee  next 
stated  that  they  had  thought  of  employing  Mr.  Hughes. 
Would  that  be  satisfactory?  Certainly,  was  the  reply. 
All  The  World  wished  was  action. 

Mr.  Hughes  was  the  most  appropriate  choice  that  could 
have  been  made.  He  was  named;  in  that  act  the  ma- 
jority members  made  it  clear  that  they  were  in  earnest. 

Mr.  Hughes's  conduct  of  the  investigation  was  a  legal 
masterpiece.  Step  by  step  he  led  it  along,  never  hurried, 
never  impatient,  never  neglecting  to  glance  down  a  side- 
path  that  might  flank  a  concealed  position.  He  seemed 
to  care  more  about  eliciting  facts  than  about  impressing 
committee-room  loungers  with  his  brilliance.  The  ses- 
sions of  the  Armstrong  Committee  often  made  good  read- 
ing next  day;  listened  to,  they  were  tedious,  dull,  long- 
winded.  The  chief  counsel  wound  his  way  through  mazes 
of  technicalities  until  from  weariness  the  witness  relaxed 
his  guard.  Then  some  innocent-seeming  question  would 
elicit  a  piece  of  information  that  dovetailed  into  the 
elaborate  pattern  of  facts  the  state  was  weaving. 

It  might  seem  that  with  the  forcing  of  an  inquiry  the 
need  of  driving-power  on  the  part  of  The  World  was  past. 
To  reason  thus  would  be  to  take  no  account  of  the  dry-rot 
in  the  Republican  state  machine,  the  fruit  of  long  victory 
and  the  boss  system.  The  men  in  charge  hoped  that 
the  insurance  exposures  could  be  hushed  up.  They  saw 
daily  unfolded  the  proofs  of  fraud,  theft,  and  perjury 
committed  in  the  state  to  the  hurt  of  its  citizens  and  with 
the  connivance  of  its  Banking  and  Insurance  departments; 
yet  they  thought  to  keep  those  departments  unchanged 
as  the  refuge  of  unfit  place-holders  and  as  the  protectors 
of  dishonest  practices. 

The  World  in  the  latter  part  of  1905  was  day  by  day 
urging  Governor  Higgins  to  reform  these  departments 


"EQUITABLE    CORRUPTION"      219 

with  an  ax.  "Your  two  Superintendents,"  it  told  him, 
"have  been  tried  before  the  bar  of  public  opinion  and 
found  guilty.  For  six  years  Francis  Hendricks  has 
certified  to  false  statements  and  allowed  the  seal  of  the 
State  of  New  York  to  be  stamped  upon  a  snare.  For  nine 
years  Frederick  D.  Kilburn  has  supervised  the  banks  and 
trust  companies  in  which  the  cooked  accounts  were  kept 
and  through  which  policy-holders  were  robbed. 

"You  are  yourself  now  on  trial.  .  .  .  You  say,  'I 
cannot  discuss  the  matter  now.  I  cannot  try  a  case  in 
advance/  There  is  nothing  for  you  to  discuss.  There  is 
nothing  to  try.  A  plea  of  guilty  has  been  entered.  It  is 
for  you  to  pronounce  the  sentence.  It  should  be  dis- 
missal." 

Because  of  the  capacity  for  procrastination  of  the 
Republican  machine  men  and  the  Governor,  and  because 
the  county  of  New  York  lacked  a  district  attorney  capable 
of  seeing  his  opportunity  for  jailing  rich  offenders,  the 
revelations  of  the  Hughes  inquiry  failed  in  part  of  their 
just  effect.  Governor  Higgins  kept  Superintendent  Hen- 
dricks in  the  Insurance  Department,  in  spite  of  proof  of 
his  incompetency,  until  May  2,  1906.  He  then  named  for 
superintendent  Otto  Kelsey,  another  friend  of  the  ma- 
chine, whose  incumbency  meant  that  the  cleaning  up  of 
the  department  would  be  postponed. 

Toward  prosecuting  the  rich  culprits  whom  the  Hughes 
inquiry  revealed  nothing  was  done  by  William  Travers 
Jerome  as  district  attorney.  The  most  piquant  of  his 
exploits  in  this  field  was  to  cause  the  exculpation  of 
George  W.  Perkins  from  the  charge  of  larceny  from  the 
New  York  Life  Insurance  Company,  by  submitting  his 
case  to  the  courts  practically  as  a  moot  question  upon 
affidavits  of  three  of  Perkins's  associates.  The  sum  im- 
properly taken  was  that  indirectly  contributed  to  the 
Roosevelt  campaign  fund  of  1904  by  the  New  York  Life. 
The  officers  of  the  company,  aware  of  the  impropriety  of 


220  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

the  gift,  had  sought  to  conceal  it.  Mr.  Perkins  made 
the  payment  by  personal  check.  After  the  campaign  the 
money  was  refunded  to  him  by  company  check.  The 
sum  taken  was  not  an  even  $50,000,  as  in  the  case  of 
two  other  insurance  companies,  but  $48,702.50.  Mr. 
Perkins  gave  his  own  money.  The  impropriety  rested  in 
his  repayment  from  company  funds. 

The  World  urged  Governor  Higgins  to  appoint  a  special 
prosecutor  to  punish  insurance  crimes  and  to  let  Mr. 
Jerome  "  confine  himself  to  the  prosecution  of  such 
criminals  as  have  neither  wealth  nor  social  standing." 
But  Governor  Higgins  had  no  wish  to  send  to  jail  con- 
tributors to  Republican  campaign  funds,  even  if  they 
did  improperly  reimburse  themselves  from  policy-holders' 
money.  So  the  proceedings  dragged  out  to  a  natural  death 
before  the  Court  of  Appeals,  which  decided  for  Perkins, 
absolving  him  on  the  ground  of  motive.  Justice  has  been 
obliged  to  content  itself  with  the  moral  victory  contained 
in  Chief  Judge  Cullen's  dissenting  opinion  that  Perkins's 
act  in  reimbursing  himself  was  as  much  larceny  as  if  he 
had  taken  insurance  money  to  buy  a  necklace  for  a  woman ; 
with  Perkins's  refunding  of  the  money;  and  with  the  aid 
the  episode  has  rendered  in  hastening  better  laws  limiting 
campaign  contributions.  Since  the  inquiry  Mr.  Perkins 
has  partially  retired  from  business  and  has  devoted  much 
time  to  Progressive  politics  and  to  the  forwarding  of  re- 
form measures. 

But  if  the  results  of  the  investigation  were  disappoint- 
ing, so  far  as  the  Governor  and  the  district  attorney  were 
concerned,  nothing  could  be  more  admirable  than  the 
manner  in  which  the  1906  Legislature  rose  to  its  occasion. 
Not  without  friction,  not  without  opposition,  the  Arm- 
strong insurance  code,  based  upon  the  report  of  the 
committee,  was  forced  through  the  Legislature  and  past 
the  Governor.  No  large  element  in  the  state  would  now 
dispute  that  the  net  result  of  the  agitation  had  been 


"EQUITABLE    CORRUPTION"      221 

healthful  for  insurance  and  beneficial  to  policy-holders. 
What  had  been  done  may  be  summarized  in  The  World's 
words,  printed  upon  April  28th,  the  day  after  Governor 
Higgins  signed  the  last  of  the  Armstrong  bills,  in  No.  202 
of  the  " Equitable  Corruption"  series: 

The  law  now  calls  it  crime  for  any  corporation,  excepting 
such  as  are  organized  for  political  purposes,  to  contribute  to 
any  political  fund.  No  railroad,  bank,  trust  company  or  manu- 
facturing or  mining  corporation  may  hereafter  lawfully  give 
one  cent  to  politics.  Neither  may  any  corporation  maintain 
in  Albany  a  secret  lobby. 

The  crime  of  perjury  has  been  made  more  easy  of  punishment. 
The  making  of  conflicting  sworn  statements  in  writing  is  hence- 
forth presumptive  evidence  of  guilt.  .  .  .  The  new  insurance 
code  provides  for  real  representation  of  the  policy-holders, 
for  the  abolition  of  deferred  dividends,  for  restriction  of  the 
cost  of  getting  business,  for  annual  apportionment  of  surplus, 
for  truthful  and  intelligible  statements,  for  the  punishment  of 
rebating. 

But  the  greatest  of  all  in  its  service  to  the  community  is  the 
blow  the  Armstrong  laws  strike  at  the  system  of  high  finance 
which  uses  the  savings  of  the  people  to  convert  public  franchises 
into  instruments  of  oppression.  The  prohibition  of  any  partici- 
pation by  any  life-insurance  company  in  syndicates,  flotations 
or  stock  speculations  cuts  off  the  great  source  which  Wall 
Street  promoters  draw  upon  for  speculative  funds. 

This  summary  of  the  practical  achievement  of  the 
Armstrong  Committee  and  its  counsel,  Mr.  Hughes,  was 
followed  by  a  review  of  the  history  of  the  case  : 

For  beginning  the  exposure  credit  is  due  to  James  Hazen 
Hyde.  Unintentionally  young  Mr.  Hyde  has  done  his  best  to 
atone  for  what  his  father  did.  The  system  which  Henry  B. 
Hyde  founded,  James  Hazen  Hyde  toppled  over.  .  .  . 

Older  men,  whom  he  had  been  taught  to  look  up  to,  young 
Mr.  Hyde  had  seen  take  the  policy-holders'  money  to  buy 
railroads  for  themselves  and  banks  and  trust  companies.  He 


222  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

had  no  desire  to  accumulate  railroads  and  banks  and  trust 
companies.  What  he  did  want  was  a  special  car  and  flowers 
out  of  season  and  French  plays.  They  had  taken  millions  for 
what  they  wanted.  He  saw  no  reason  why  he  should  not  take 
a  few  thousands  to  gratify  his  taste.  .  .  . 

This  shocked  the  "staid  and  conservative"  financiers,  who 
never  took  the  policy-holders'  money  except  to  get  railroads, 
banks  and  trusts.  .  .  . 

The  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Equitable  stirred  in  its  sluggish 
sleep.  The  majority  were  only  dummies,  invited  to  seats  for 
the  respectability  of  their  names  and  accepting  the  office  as  an 
honor  instead  of  a  responsibility.  The  honest  dummies  tried 
to  reorganize  the  company  and  to  make  it  mutual  in  fact,  as 
it  was  in  law.  Against  this  uprising  Hyde  and  Alexander 
combined  their  forces,  and,  dropping  recrimination  in  the  face 
of  a  common  danger,  rallied  enough  votes  to  defeat  the  re- 
spectable dummies.  .  .  . 

As  a  concession  to  public  opinion,  a  committee  was  appointed, 
with  Henry  C.  Frick  as  chairman,  to  hear  both  Alexander  and 
Hyde.  ...  It  found  that  both  charges  were  sustained,  both 
complainants  guilty. 

Francis  Hendricks,  State  Superintendent  of  Insurance,  began 
by  trying  to  force  a  reconciliation  between  the  Hyde  and 
Alexander  factions.  Struggling  under  the  traditions  of  his 
department  and  his  political  training,  he  yielded,  inch  by  inch, 
until  he  also  investigated  and  brought  to  light  additional 
facts.  .  .  . 

The  World  printed  the  full  testimony  taken  before  him,  only 
parts  of  which  he  had  made  public.  This  testimony  disclosed 
Senator  Depew,  former  Senator  Hill  and  Elihu  Root  as  recipi- 
ents of  Equitable  money.  It  made  public  the  Harriman  and 
Schiff  syndicates,  the  thefts  by  trustees.  It  lifted  the  lid. 

Gov.  Higgins  sought  to  leave  the  matter  of  investigation  in 
the  hands  of  Superintendent  Hendricks.  Day  after  day  he 
announced  that  he  would  not  authorize  a  legislative  investiga- 
tion. The  Legislature  was  in  special  session,  called  to  try  Jus- 
tice Hooker.  The  last  day  of  its  session  came,  when  Governor 
Higgins  realized  that  no  one  man  can  dam  back  the  public 
conscience.  So  he  too  yielded  and  authorized  the  Legislature 


"EQUITABLE    CORRUPTION"      223 

to  appoint  the  committee  of  which  Senator  Armstrong  was 
Chairman,  and  of  which  Mr.  Charles  E.  Hughes  was  later  made 
chief  counsel.  .  .  . 

At  the  first  meeting  of  the  Armstrong  committee  President 
McCall  appeared  and  said  that  he  had  employed  no  lawyer, 
because  the  New  York  Life  needed  none.  .  .  .  He  had  stood 
against  Bryanism,  socialism,  anarchy,  free  silver  and  all 
attacks  upon  the  institutions  of  the  United  States,  including 
the  attempt  to  elect  Judge  Parker  President  in  1904.  To  aid 
in  these  noble  causes  he  had  regularly  contributed  the  policy- 
holders'  money.  .  .  .  No  sooner  was  Mr.  McCall's  confession 
published  than  public  opinion  rose  in  greater  wrath.  Such 
was  the  effect  that  within  a  fortnight  he  sent  out  an  official 
statement  that  never  again  would  he  do  what  he  had  boasted 
of  doing. 

When  President  McCurdy  of  the  Mutual  testified,  his  attitude 
was  the  same  as  Mr.  McCall's — that  he  had  done  a  great  public 
service,  worthy  of  commendation.  He  told  how,  during  his 
twenty  years  as  President,  the  dividends  to  the  policy-holders 
had  diminished  and  their  money  was  taken  for  the  "missionary 
and  philanthropic  purpose"  of  spreading  the  blessings  of  life 
insurance.  He  told  of  the  furniture  of  his  office,  the  real  gold 
on  the  walls,  the  $12,000  rug  on  the  floor,  the  furnishings,  which 
cost  more  than  $50,000,  and  justified  the  expenditure;  it  added 
to  the  dignity  of  life  insurance.  .  .  . 

Deposition,  disgrace  and  disaster  followed  speedily  upon 
confession  and  conviction.  President  Alexander  of  the  Equi- 
table broke  down  in  mind  and  body.  Young  Hyde  went  into 
voluntary  exile.  John  A.  McCall  died.  Missionary  McCurdy, 
shattered  and  crushed,  seeks  peace  in  alien  lands.  .  .  . 

The  high  financiers  fought  among  themselves  for  the  Hyde 
stock.  Thomas  F.  Ryan,  the  strongest,  grimmest  wolf  in  the 
Wall  Street  pack,  won.  He  reorganized  the  Equitable  by  mak- 
ing Paul  Morton  president  and  supplanting  the  Hyde  dummies 
with  Ryan  dummies.  .  .  . 

But  even  Thomas  F.  Ryan  quailed  before  the  power  of  public 
opinion.  He  had  regarded  his  purchase  of  the  Hyde  stock  as 
a  private  affair.  The  public  did  not  so  regard  it.  ...  Mr. 
Ryan's  next  yielding  was  to  induce  former  President  Grover 


224  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

Cleveland,  Morgan  J.  O'Brien,  Presiding  Justice  of  the  Appel- 
late Division,  and  George  Westinghouse  to  act  as  his  proxies 
to  name  his  dummy  trustees.  .  .  . 

The  public  conscience  is  sound.  However  private  con- 
sciences may  differ  in  their  apologies  for  the  weaknesses  of 
their  possessors,  the  collective  conscience  has  no  personal 
evasions,  no  excuses  for  wrong-doing.  The  force  of  moral 
ideas  in  the  community  is  omnipotent.  What  it  has  done  to 
insurance  corruption  it  can  do  wherever  and  whenever  the 
public  safety  is  menaced. 

The  mention  of  Thomas  F.  Ryan  takes  us  back  again 
to  the  summer  of  1905,  whence  may  be  traced  the  amaz- 
ing story  of  the  successive  transfers  of  ownership,  as  a 
private  property,  of  this  vast  undertaking  of  public  in- 
terest and  wide  participation. 

Mr.  Hyde,  as  has  been  said,  had  literary  and  artistic 
tastes.  He  had  figured  in  arrangements  for  an  exchange 
of  American  and  French  college  professors  to  promote 
international  understanding.  His  dinner  to  Ambassador 
Cambon,  however  unfortunate  the  manner  of  payment 
of  the  cost,  was  a  sincere  expression  of  his  personality 
and  his  tastes.  He  had  no  mind  to  war  in  Wall  Street. 
His  ambition  was  to  seek  his  ease  and  congenial  company 
in  Paris. 

Early  in  June,  1905,  he  sold  his  five  hundred  and  one 
shares  to  Thomas  F.  Ryan.  Their  par  value  was  $50,100. 
They  were  limited  to  a  seven-per-cent.  dividend,  and  as  in- 
vestment securities  were  worth  at  most  $75,000.  Ryan 
paid  about  $2,500,000.  The  excess  represented  the  value 
of  the  control  of  the  company.  Edward  H.  Harriman, 
who  had  been  a  power  with  Hyde,  expected  to  share  the 
ownership  with  Ryan,  but  was,  as  he  later  explained 
under  oath,  cheated  out  of  his  share.  His  purpose  to  get 
even  with  Ryan — an  ambition  "not  yet"  accomplished,  as 
he  once  testified — left  him  only  with  his  life.  Of  the 
Ryan  acquisition  The  World  said: 


"EQUITABLE    CORRUPTION'        225 

Thomas  F.  Ryan  has  bought  James  H.  Hyde's  stock  in  the 
Equitable  Life  Assurance  Society.  Mr.  Ryan  is  one  of  the 
choice  spirits  in  the  Consolidated  Gas  Company  and  the 
Metropolitan  Securities  Company,  two  corporations  notorious 
for  their  corrupt  alliances  with  corrupt  politicians. 

Mr.  Ryan  has  elected  Paul  Morton  chairman  of  the  Equi- 
table board.  Mr.  Morton  is  a  self-confessed  violator  of  the 
Interstate  Commerce  law,  and  is  the  distinguished  gentleman 
who  used  to  manipulate  the  rebate  business  for  the  Atchison, 
Topeka  and  Sante  Fe  Railroad  Company.  .  .  . 

Mr.  Ryan  has  invited  Grover  Cleveland,  Judge  M.  J.  O'Brien 
and  George  Westinghouse  to  act  as  trustees  of  the  stock  which 
he  has  purchased.  Without  discussing  Mr.  Ryan's  motives  in 
acquiring  this  Equitable  stock,  which  can  yield  him  only  $3,500 
a  year  in  legal  dividends,  The  World  can  only  say  that  the 
necessity  for  a  legislative  investigation  into  Equitable  corrup- 
tion is  more  acute  now  than  ever. — June  10th. 

Except  the  people  of  the  State  of  New  York,  and  the  600,000 
scattered  policy-holders,  everybody  concerned  in  Equitable 
affairs  is  satisfied  with  the  present  situation. 

The  Dignified  Dummy  Directors,  who  did  not  know  what 
was  going  on,  have  nearly  all  resigned.  Several  of  the  Pre- 
daceous  Dummies  have  also  quit.  The  other  Predaceous 
Dummies  and  the  Hereditary  and  Parasitic  Dummies  and  the 
Satellite  Directors  remain.  Instead  of  the  Dignified  Dummies 
who  formerly  furnished  the  respectability,  Mr.  Cleveland, 
Justice  O'Brien  and  Mr.  Westinghouse  will  provide  a  new  set 
of  directors  fully  equal  in  respectability  to  those  who  have 
resigned. — June  14th. 

Mr.  Ryan  did  not  long  hold  the  stock.  He  in  turn 
gave  it  up  to  a  stronger  hand.  The  stock  he  bought  from 
Hyde,  with  a  few  other  shares,  was  taken  at  cost,  plus 
4  per  cent,  interest,  the  total  then  amounting  to  more  than 
three  million  dollars,  by  J.  Pierpont  Morgan  under  an 
arrangement  with  George  F.  Baker  and  James  Stillman, 
presidents  of  the  First  National  and  National  City  bariks, 
to  take  half  the  stock  off  his  hands  if  he  wished  to  be  re- 
lieved. The  voting  trustees  as  rearranged  after  Mr. 


226  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

Cleveland's  death  were  Judge  O'Brien,  Lewis  Cass  Led- 
yard  and  George  W.  Perkins.  The  directors  are  elected 
partly  by  the  stockholders,  partly  by  the  trustees.  They 
certify  that  no  control  over  their  action  was  exercised  by 
Mr.  Morgan. 

Before  the  Pujo  committee  in  Washington  in  Decem- 
ber, 1912,  Mr.  Morgan  explained  that  he  bought  the  con- 
trolling stock,  which  could  only  yield  him  one-eighth  or 
one-ninth  per  cent,  upon  the  price  paid,  because  he 
"  thought  it  a  desirable  thing  for  the  situation."  Further 
testimony  gave  the  meaning  of  the  phrase,  and  at  least 
hinted  at  the  reasons  why  Ryan  sold : 

Q.  That  is  very  general,  Mr.  Morgan.  Will  you  speak  of  the  sit- 
uation? Was  not  that  stock  safe  enough  in  Mr.  Ryan's  hands?  A.  I 
suppose  it  was.  I  thought  it  was  greatly  improved  by  being  in  the 
hands  of  myself  and  these  two  gentlemen,  provided  I  asked  them  to 
do  so. 

Q.  How  would  that  improve  the  situation  over  the  situation  that 
existed  when  Mr.  Ryan  and  Mr.  Harriman  held  the  stock?  A.  Mr. 
Ryan  did  not  have  it  alone. 

Q.  Yes,  but  do  you  not  know  that  Mr.  Ryan  originally  bought  it 
alone,  and  Mr.  Harriman  insisted  on  having  him  give  him  half?  A.  I 
thought  if  he  could  pay  for  it  that  price,  I  could.  I  thought  that  was 
a  fair  price.  .  .  . 

Q.  The  normal  rate  of  interest  that  you  can  earn  on  money  is  about 
5  per  cent.,  is  it  not?  A.  Not  always,  no.  I  am  not  talking  about  it 
as  a  question  of  money.  .  .  . 

Q.  Was  anything  the  matter  with  it  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Ryan? 
A.  Nothing. 

Q.  In  what  respect  would  it  be  better  where  it  is  than  with  him? 
A.  That  is  the  way  it  struck  me. 

Q.  Is  that  all  you  have  to  say  about  it?  A.  That  is  all  I  have  to 
say  about  it. 

Q.  You  care  to  make  no  other  explanation  about  it?    A.  No. 

Q.  The  assets  of  the  Equitable  Life  were  $504,465,802.01  on  Dec. 
31,  1911.  Did  Mr.  Ryan  offer  this  stock  to  you?  A.  I  asked  him  to 
sell  it  to  me. 

Q.  Did  you  tell  him  why  you  wanted  it?  A.  No,  I  told  him  I 
thought  it  was  a  good  thing  for  me  to  have. 

Q.  Did  he  tell  you  that  he  wanted  to  sell  it?    A.  No,  but  he  sold  it. 


'EQUITABLE    CORRUPTION"      227 

Q.  He  did  not  want  to  sell  it,  but  when  you  said  you  wanted  it  he 
sold  it?  A.  He  did  not  say  that  he  did  not  want  to  sell  it. 

Q.  What  did  he  say  when  you  told  him  you  would  like  to  have  it 
and  thought  you  ought  to  have  it?  A.  He  hesitated  a%out  it  and 
finally  sold  it. 

By  the  death  of  Mr.  Morgan  the  shares  carrying  con- 
trol of  the  Equitable  passed  to  his  son,  the  present  J.  P. 
Morgan.  Their  final  disposition  is  curiously  awaited, 
in  the  expectation  that  means  will  ultimately  be  found 
to  mutualize  the  society. 

So  closed  the  insurance  war.  The  Equitable  is  not  yet 
turned  over  to  its  rightful  owners,  the  policy-holders. 
The  anomaly  of  $50,100  worth  of  stock  controlling  asset 
trust  funds  now  mounting  above  five  hundred  million 
dollars  continues.  But  great  has  been  the  value  of  the 
house-cleaning. 

Not  the  least  of  the  beneficent  results  was  the  move- 
ment in  the  state  that,  by  putting  Charles  E.  Hughes 
in  the  Governor's  chair,  established  a  higher  ideal  of 
executive  responsibility  and  taught  a  greater  confidence  in 
the  power  of  the  people  over  their  representatives. 


XVII 

CHARLES     EVANS     HUGHES 
1905-1909 

Rise  of  Mr.  Hughes  to  Power  in  New  York — Mr.  Hearst's  Candidacies  for 
Mayor  and  Governor— George  B.  McClellan  as  Mayor—Governor  Hughes' 's 
Bitter  Conflicts  with  the  Republican  Bosses — His  War  upon  Race-Track 
Gambling — Roosevelt  Compels  his  Renomination — His  Fruitless  Fight  for 
Direct  Primaries— Why  Hughes  was  Side-Tracked  from  Politics  to  the 
Supreme  Court — Mayor  Gaynor's  Administration. 

INSURANCE  reform  made  Charles  Evans  Hughes  a 
logical  candidate  for  high  office.  His  friends  could  see 
his  road  lying  straight  before  him  through  the  Governor- 
ship of  New  York  to  the  White  House.  He  traveled  that 
road  some  distance.  How  he  was  forced  to  step  aside, 
taking  up,  indeed,  a  position  of  usefulness  and  honor,  but 
abandoning  his  ambition  for  the  Presidency,  is  the  political 
story  of  1906  and  the  troubled  years  that  followed  it. 

Mr.  Hughes  was  a  constructive,  progressive  statesman. 
He  made  a  record  of  unbroken  success  at  the  polls  and  of 
a  gratifying  measure  of  success  in  his  executive  policies. 
His  brief  political  career  was  one  of  constant  struggle  with 
the  bosses  of  both  parties,  with  whom  he  did  not  always 
come  off  second  best.  Appeal  direct  to  the  people  was  the 
method  of  warfare  which  he  might  almost  be  said  to  have 
rediscovered. 

The  first  campaign  Mr.  Hughes  made  for  elective 
office  brought  him  into  conflict  with  William  Randolph 
Hearst. 

Mr.    Hearst  had  become   conspicuously  a  factor  in 


CHARLES    EVANS    HUGHES        229 

politics  by  his  fruitless  effort  to  secure  the  Democratic 
nomination  for  the  Presidency  in  1904.  In  the  following 
year  he  was  a  candidate  in  one  of  the  hottest  political  con- 
tests ever  waged  in  the  United  States.  His  campaign 
for  Mayor  of  New  York  City  upon  the  Municipal  Owner- 
ship ticket  presented  much  to  remind  one  of  the  Henry 
George  campaign  of  1886,  with  William  M.  Ivins,  the 
Republican  candidate,  playing  the  role  of  Theodore 
Roosevelt  as  third  in  an  unequal  contest,  and  with  Mayor 
McClellan  repeating  the  part  of  Mayor  Hewitt.  Mr. 
Hearst's  doctrines  and  his  emphasis  again  alarmed  citizens 
who  had  taken  anxious  thought  of  Henry  George's  single- 
tax  beliefs  in  the  earlier  campaign.  Again,  many  Re- 
publicans went  to  the  Mayor's  support,  and  the  Repub- 
lican machine  was  not  unfavorable  to  McClellan's  elec- 
tion. Again  the  devotion  of  a  part  of  the  attacking  force 
had  about  it  something  almost  of  exaltation.  To  com- 
plete the  parallel  a  dispute  arose  whether  McClellan  was 
fairly  elected. 

The  World  in  this  three-cornered  contest  had  no  candi- 
date, although  in  the  end  it  practically  supported  Ivins, 
who  had  no  hope  of  success.  McClellan  it  could  not 
praise,  his  administration  having  until  then  exhibited 
its  most  unlovely  phases.  Hearst  it  opposed,  though 
mindful  of  the  aid  he  was  giving  to  the  habit  of  inde- 
pendent voting.  It  put  forth  its  best  effort  in  electing 
Mr.  Jerome  district  attorney  as  an  independent,  against 
both  the  Republican  and  Democratic  parties.  Jerome 
had  promised  to  pursue  financial  criminals  concerned  in 
the  transit  plunder  of  New  York  City,  the  Shipbuilding 
Trust,  and  other  money  scandals.  His  continuance  in 
office  was  a  disappointment;  he  did  not  pursue  these 
criminals,  nor  those  exposed  in  the  insurance  investiga- 
tion; but  the  remarkable  example  of  independent  voting 
given  in  his  election  remains  a  healthy  reminder  of  what 
New  York,  when  it  wills,  can  do  to  political  machines. 


230  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

Mr.  McClellan's  plurality  over  Hearst,  on  the  face  of 
the  returns,  was  3,468  in  a  total  of  nearly  650,000.  Charges 
of  fraud  were  made,  and  a  bill  was  introduced  in  Albany, 
which  The  World  supported,  to  permit  a  recount.  This 
was  later  secured,  but  did  not  materially  alter  the  result. 
Mr.  McClellan's  second  term,  of  four  years,  was  an  im- 
provement upon  his  first  of  two  years.  Much  of  the  time 
he  was  in  conflict  with  Boss  Murphy.  His  appointments 
grew  better  toward  the  close  of  his  service,  but  his  ad- 
ministration will  remain  notable  chiefly  for  its  financial 
sins.  Never  before  had  the  ruinous  system  of  keeping 
tax  rates  down  by  charging  current  expenses  to  debt 
been  carried  to  such  extremes.  Six  years  of  this  policy, 
with  a  financial  panic  toward  its  close,  left  the  city  in  an 
embarrassing  plight,  facing  its  new  problems  of  rapid- 
transit  and  dock  development. 

Upon  this  Mayor  of  New  York,  so  attractive  yet  so 
disappointing,  The  World's  judgment  at  his  leaving  of 
office  ran  as  follows: 

It  cannot  be  said  that  Mr.  McClellan  has  proved  himself  a 
great  Mayor,  but  it  can  be  said  that  he  has  made  it  easier  for 
his  successor  to  be  a  great  Mayor.  Let  us  give  him  credit  for 
that. 

Whatever  his  reasons,  Mr.  McClellan  broke  with  Murphy 
and  emancipated  his  administration  from  boss  servitude.  That 
in  itself  was  a  long  step  in  the  direction  of  better  government. 

The  great  reproach  of  Mr.  McClellan's  administration  has 
been  its  unparalleled  extravagance  and  its  indifference  to  the 
transportation  necessities  of  the  people  of  New  York.  .  .  .  No 
justification  in  sound  administration  can  be  found  for  the 
tremendous  increase  in  the  debt  limit  during  the  last  six  years, 
which  has  put  the  gross  bonded  debt  of  New  York  City  above 
the  national  debt  and  left  it  seven  times  as  great  as  that  of  any 
other  American  city. 

In  1904  Mr.  Hearst  had  accepted  a  renomination  for 
Congress  from  Boss  Murphy.  In  1905  he  had  assailed 


CHARLES  EVANS  HUGHES    231 

Murphy  as  the  power  behind  McClellan.  In  1906  he 
made  terms  with  Murphy,  and  in  one  of  the  most  tur- 
bulent conventions  ever  held  in  New  York  gained  the 
Democratic  nomination  for  Governor.  The  issue  was 
made  plain  by  the  Republican  convention  in  nominating 
Mr.  Hughes — weighted  down,  however,  by  a  weak  ticket 
for  minor  offices. 

There  was  now  no  need  of  The  World's  concentrating 
its  effort  on  a  side  issue,  as  it  had  done  the  previous  year. 
Mr.  Hughes  would  furnish  an  excellent  administration. 
Not  much  could  be  expected  of  the  Independence  League- 
Tammany  alliance,  which  alienated  thousands  of  rural 
Democrats,  as  well  as  many  in  the  metropolis  who  had 
supported  Hearst  for  Mayor.  The  World  made  telling 
use  of  previous  Hearst  cartoons  picturing  Boss  Murphy 
in  prison  stripes,  and  of  the  Hearst  newspapers'  editorials 
of  denunciation.  Thus  in  its  article  of  October  1st: 

When  Mr.  Hearst  makes  his  speech  at  the  Tammany  ratifi- 
cation meeting  which  Murphy  is  arranging  for  him,  will  he 
repeat  his  statement  of  August  22,  "I  repeat  now  that  I  am 
absolutely  and  unalterably  opposed  to  the  Murphys  and  the 
McCarrens,  and  also  to  the  Sullivans  and  the  McClellans  and 
to  the  kind  of  politics  that  they  all  represent"? 

Will  Mr.  Hearst  repeat  his  speech  at  Durland's,  October  29, 
1905,  in  which  he  said,  "  Murphy  is  as  evil  a  specimen  of  a 
criminal  boss  as  we  have  had  since  the  days  of  Tweed.  Murphy 
grows  rich  and  insolent  on  corrupt  contracts"? 

Will  Mr.  Hearst  repeat  the  editorial  printed  in  his  New  York 
American,  October  16,  1905,  which  said,  "Murphy,  the  most 
hungry,  selfish,  and  extortionate  boss  Tammany  has  ever 
known,  is  fighting  for  his  life  and  for  his  plunder"? 

Will  Mr.  Hearst  repeat  the  editorial  statement  of  his  evening 
Journal,  December  30,  1905,  "  Murphy  should  be  in  Sing  Sing 
wearing  stripes  instead  of  at  Delmonico's"? 

The  contest  was  by  no  means  a  walk-over  for  Hughes. 
Toward  the  end  of  the  campaign  a  vigorous  blow  was 


232  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

struc)i  by  President  Roosevelt,  who  sent  Secretary  Elihu 
Root  of  his  Cabinet  to  attack  Mr.  Hearst  in  a  bitter 
speech  at  Utica.  Thus  aided  by  the  power  of  the  Presi- 
dent, who  was  then  at  the  summit  of  his  popularity,  Mr. 
Hughes  won  by  57,879,  but  the  remainder  of  the  Hearst- 
Murphy  ticket  was  elected.  The  Democratic  state 
officials,  however,  worked  in  harmony  with  Governor 
Hughes.  Lewis  Stuyvesant  Chanler  as  lieutenant  gov- 
ernor and  Martin  Glynn  as  comptroller  were  specially 
efficient. 

The  changes  of  the  Independence  League  were  not  yet 
at  an  end.  In  1907  there  was  no  state  election  of  impor- 
tance, but  Mr.  Hearst,  deserting  Murphy,  arranged  with 
Herbert  Parsons,  chairman  of  the  New  York  Republican 
Committee,  representing  Odell  and  his  state  machine,  to 
run  fusion  candidates  for  aldermen,  for  the  assembly,  and 
for  county  offices.  The  attempt  at  fusion  failed  in  the 
main,  and  The  World's  comment  states  the  lesson: 

This  year,  when  an  honest  fusion  might  have  greatly  reduced 
the  Tammany  majorities,  Mr.  Hearst  packed  the  ticket  with 
hacks  and  hired  men  and  gave  Tammany  a  walk-over.  Thanks 
to  Mr.  Hearst,  Murphy's  leadership  is  more  securely  established 
to-day  than  at  any  other  time  in  his  whole  political  career. 
Honor  to  whom  honor  is  due. 

To  win  in  New  York,  fusion  must  represent  character,  con- 
science and  conviction.  If  it  be  merely  an  appetite  for  office 
it  is  foredoomed  to  disaster. 

Governor  Hughes  was  fulfilling  expectation  that  he 
would  give  the  state  a  live  administration.  He  had  against 
him  the  machine  of  the  party  that  elected  him  as  well 
as  the  party  that  opposed  him.  He  early  asked  for 
the  Senate's  concurrence  in  the  removal  of  Otto  Kelsey 
as  superintendent  of  insurance.  It  was  refused.  The 
World,  outraged  that  the  reform  of  insurance  methods 
which  it  had  compelled  should  be  hampered  by  the 


CHARLES    EVANS    HUGHES        233 

neglect  of  the  department,  filed  charges  against  Kelsey; 
the  Governor  appointed  Matthew  C.  Fleming  to  take 
testimony ;  and  the  inquiry  revealed  such  ignorance  of 
his  duties  upon  Kelsey's  part  that  it  made  the  Senate  a 
laughing-stock.  Fleming's  report  was  filed  February  2, 
1908,  and  presently  Kelsey  resigned  and  was  "  taken  care 
of"  by  an  appointment  in  the  comptroller's  office.  The 
Insurance  Department  was  provided  with  an  abler  head 
in  William  H.  Hotchkiss. 

The  World  had  supported  the  Governor  in  the  Kelsey 
matter.  It  supported  him  in  forcing  the  recount  bill,  to 
silence  the  complaint  that  Mr.  Hearst  had  been  counted 
out  for  McClellan  in  1905.  It  upheld  the  Governor  in 
his  demand  for  the  public-utilities  bill.  This  act  pro- 
vided Public  Service  Commissions  for  city  and  country, 
put  a  check  on  stock-watering  by  public-service  com- 
panies, and  gave  the  people  a  representation  and  a  con- 
trol. It  is  the  model  for  the  New  Jersey  public-service 
law  and  others  that  have  since  been  passed.  Though 
mutilated  by  the  most  regrettable  court  decision  in  the 
Third  Avenue  case,  that  its  provisions  do  not  apply  to 
reorganizations,  as  was  intended  when  it  was  enacted,  it 
has  proved  of  great  value. 

A  hotter  contest  in  which  Governor  Hughes  had  the 
support  of  The  World  as  well  as  that  of  Mr.  Hearst's 
newspapers  was  his  war  upon  gambling  at  race-tracks. 
The  constitution  of  New  York  prohibits  gambling. 
Under  the  Percy-Gray  law  pool-selling  at  race-tracks  was 
permitted  by  legislative  connivance  in  failing  to  provide 
penalties.  To  reconcile  the  rural  conscience  to  this 
hypocrisy,  part  of  the  huge  revenue  from  the  betting- 
rings  of  metropolitan  tracks  was  paid  to  agricultural- 
society  fairs.  But  the  people  did  not  approve  of  the 
arrangement,  nor  could  it  have  been  retained  so  long 
but  for  the  influence  of  race-track  lobbyists  at  Albany. 

The  Legislature  refused  to  provide  penalties  for  acts 

16 


234  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

within  race-track  fences  which  were  punished  outside 
them.  Governor  Hughes  went  beyond  the  Legislature 
to  the  people  and  threatened  a  special  session.  Of  this 
threat  The  World  said  on  April  10,  1908: 

His  message  is  a  constitutional  threat  that  if  the  Legislature 
does  not  fully  and  honestly  consider  Wall  Street  and  race-track 
gambling,  the  regulation  of  telephone  and  telegraph  companies, 
the  rapid-transit  law,  the  improvement  of  the  highways,  certain 
economies  in  administration,  a  direct-nominations  law,  banking 
legislation,  immigration,  the  condition  of  the  unemployed 
and  reform  in  the  procedure  of  the  courts  of  criminal  jurisdic- 
tion, he  will  call  a  special  session  and  use  his  constitutional 
executive  power  to  see  that  the  Legislature  exercises  its  con- 
stitutional legislative  power.  .  .  . 

With  all  its  duties  undone,  the  Legislature  was  calmly 
arranging  to  adjourn,  that  its  members  might  be  more  free  to 
play  national  and  state  politics.  The  fault  lies  specifically  in 
the  Senate.  That  is  the  reason  the  Governor's  message  cuts 
like  a  lash  those  Senators  who  are  now  writhing  under  it. 

The  special  session  was  called.  To  fill  a  Senate  vacancy 
a  by-election  was  held  before  the  Legislature  could  re- 
assemble; upon  the  race-track  issue  Governor  Hughes's 
supporter  won  against  odds.  The  people  were  aroused, 
and  legislators  heard  from  their  constituents.  Two 
months  later  the  bills  were  passed.  In  the  following 
autumn  many  men  who  had  opposed  the  Governor  failed 
of  renomination  or  re-election ;  and  as  they  were  generally 
of  the  hide-bound  and  sometimes  corrupt  "Old  Guard," 
the  state  gained  by  the  upheaval. 

These  stirring  scenes  brought  the  state  campaign  of 
1908  to  alert  public  attention.  A  Governor  was  to  be 
elected,  the  Senate  and  the  Assembly.  The  men  who 
had  been  fighting  Governor  Hughes  in  the  Legislature  and 
getting  worsted  were  forced  to  renominate  him.  They 
would  have  been  willing  to  renominate  Higgins  two  years 
before,  but  did  not  dare.  They  now  longed  to  "turn 


CHARLES    EVANS    HUGHES         235 

Hughes  down,"  but  were  forbidden  to  do  so  by  President 
Roosevelt,  who  knew  how  great  a  reputation  Governor 
Hughes  had  acquired  throughout  the  country,  and  how 
bad  an  effect  would  be  produced  upon  the  Republican 
campaign  by  denying  him  a  renomination ;  and  the 
political  graveyard  was  already  full  enough  of  men  who 
had  tried  to  stop  the  Governor  in  his  course.  Mr.  Hearst 
named  an  Independent  ticket,  headed  by  his  counsel, 
Clarence  Shearn.  The  strength  of  Mr.  Hughes  The  World 
discussed  with  its  usual  candor  September  16th: 

There  is  bitter  opposition  to  him  within  his  own  party. 
There  is  dissatisfaction  in  this  city  with  the  work  of  the  Public 
Service  Commission.  There  is  intense  hostility  against  the 
Governor  among  the  elements  that  patronized  the  race-tracks. 
There  is  the  indirect  issue  of  personal  liberty,  many  of  whose 
defenders  scent  danger  in  certain  of  the  Governor's  puritanical 
tendencies.  And,  finally,  William  Travers  Jerome  is  still 
District  Attorney  of  New  York  County. 

At  the  same  time  Mr.  Hughes  is  fortunate  beyond  any  other 
Republican  nominated  for  Governor  in  a  generation.  He  owes 
nothing  to  his  party's  organization.  He  owes  nothing  to  the 
Republican  partnership  with  Wall  Street  and  high  finance. 
He  is  a  free  man,  under  obligations  to  nobody  but  the  people 
of  the  State  of  New  York. 

The  nominee  of  the  Democrats  was  Lewis  Stuyvesant 
Chanler,  the  Lieutenant-Governor  who  had  beaten  the 
Republican  candidate  two  years  before  when  Hearst  was 
defeated;  a  popular  young  man,  with  an  excellent  record. 
As  the  campaign  developed  and  Mr.  Chanler  proved  weak 
in  debate  and  chary  of  decided  policies  The  World  more 
strongly  urged  Hughes's  cause.  He  was  re-elected  by  a 
majority  of  69,462  against  the  bitterest  opposition  any 
candidate  in  New  York  had  faced  in  years.  The  Hearst 
party  neither  aided  him  nor  could  have  defeated  him, 
since  Shearn  received  but  34,000  votes.  But  Hughes  was 


236  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

greatly  aided  by  the  Presidential  election,  in  which  Taft, 
against  Bryan,  received  202,000  plurality  in  New  York. 

Governor  Hughes  in  his  second  term  was  even  more 
hampered  by  the  Republican  machine.  His  Wall  Street 
investigation  brought  out  valuable  facts,  but  failed  to 
produce  results  in  legislation.  As,  prior  to  1898,  the 
state  punished  gambling  outside  race -track  inclosures 
while  permitting  it  inside  them,  so  it  continued  to  penalize 
usury  outside  of  Wall  Street,  but  permitted  it  within  that 
charmed  area,  and  made  no  attempt  to  curb  gambling 
transactions  on  'Change. 

In  both  his  terms  Governor  Hughes  served  New  York 
City  by  removing  unfit  officials.  Three  borough  presi- 
dents fell  at  his  hands  after  careful  hearings.  In  the  case 
of  President  Ahearn  of  Manhattan,  the  Tammany 
aldermen  showed  their  sense  of  justice  by  re-electing  him 
to  the  office  in  which  he  had  been  found  unfit,  raising 
curious  questions  as  to  the  de  facto  status  of  a  member  of 
the  Board  of  Estimate  who  de  jure  was  not  a  member,  until 
the  courts  ousted  him.  After  long  consideration,  however, 
Governor  Hughes  failed  to  remove  District  -  Attorney 
Jerome  upon  charges  preferred  by  minority  stockholders 
of  the  Metropolitan  street  Railway  Company  that  he 
had  failed  to  move  zealously  against  rich  criminals. 

Governor  Hughes,  again  with  the  support  of  The  World, 
compelled  the  Legislature  to  include  telegraph  and 
telephone  companies  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Public 
Service  Commission.  The  new  law  has  been  followed 
by  reductions  in  tolls  and  by  better  control  over  an 
important  business  affecting  the  public.  The  Governor 
was  less  successful  in  his  last  great  fight  with  the  political 
machines — his  attempt  to  secure  a  direct-primary  law. 

While  Governor  Hughes  was  still  in  the  thick  of  the 
fray  President  Taft  selected  him  as  an  associate  justice 
of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court.  The  appointment 
was  made  in  May,  1910,  though  Justice  Hughes  did  not 


CHARLES    EVANS    HUGHES         237 

take  oath  until  October  10th.  Mr.  Taft's  selection  was 
widely  approved,  perhaps  by  no  one  more  heartily  than 
by  the  bosses  of  his  own  party  in  New  York,  whose  folly 
and  feebleness  Mr.  Hughes  had  exposed.  This  appoint- 
ment removed  from  political  life  an  official  to  whom  The 
World  had  tendered  more  active  support  than  to  any 
other  since  Grover  Cleveland.  In  after- time  men  may 
be  puzzled  to  know  why  one  so  strong  in  leadership  as 
Governor  Hughes,  so  secure  in  the  confidence  of  the  peo- 
ple, so  progressive  in  his  policies,  should  have  been  lost 
to  political  life.  The  reason  is  indicated  in  the  following 
article,  which  appeared  in  The  World  two  years  after  his 
retirement  to  the  bench,  when  the  panic-stricken  New 
York  leaders  of  Republicanism  were  facing  defeat  by  the 
Bull  Moose  schism: 

Surveying  the  wreck  of  a  once  splendid  political  organization, 
what  would  the  Republican  bosses  at  Saratoga  give  for  another 
Charles  E.  Hughes?  .  .  . 

The  Republican  chickens  have  all  come  home  to  roost. 
After  Mr.  Hughes  was  elected  Governor  in  1906  Mr.  Roosevelt 
discovered  that  he  was  not  going  to  be  subservient  to  the  White 
House,  and  cunningly  set  to  work  to  destroy  the  Governor 
politically.  Mr.  Roosevelt's  visitors  were  told  that  "  Hughes 
is  an  ingrate,"  and  Mr.  Roosevelt  used  to  boast  that  he  would 
never  permit  the  Republican  National  Convention  to  nominate 
Hughes  for  President. 

Mr.  Barnes,  who  was  a  Roosevelt  office-holder,  and  all  his 
associate  Republican  bosses  in  New  York  ardently  played  the 
Roosevelt  game.  .  .  .  Thanks  to  their  efforts,  Mr.  Roosevelt 
had  no  difficulty  in  controlling  the  Republican  National  Con- 
vention in  1908  and  in  nominating  Mr.  Taft.  Then  he  com- 
pelled these  same  bosses  to  renominate  Mr.  Hughes  for  Gover- 
nor, because  he  knew  that  the  Hughes  candidacy  was  essential 
to  Republican  success.  But  even  then  the  bosses  went  their 
way  blindly  and  stupidly.  Throughout  his  second  term  they 
continued  their  fight  against  the  Governor.  The  Republican 
machine  worked  with  Tammany;  Grady  (Tammany  spokes- 


238  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

man)  was  the  leader  of  both  parties  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate, 
and  the  Hughes  administration  fought,  inch  by  inch,  for  every 
popular  measure  that  it  won. 

But  in  the  summer  of  1910  Mr.  Roosevelt  came  back  from 
Africa,  ambitious  to  be  the  only  third-term  President.  He 
needed  a  moral  issue,  and  Governor  Hughes  had  provided  one. 
So  Mr.  Roosevelt  seized  it,  turned  upon  the  up-State  bosses 
who  had  been  his  henchmen  while  he  was  in  the  White  House, 
and  launched  himself  as  the  champion  of  progressive  policies. 

In  the  mean  time  Governor  Hughes  went  to  the  Supreme 
bench;  the  Republican  bosses  were  left  without  a  shred  of 
moral  leadership,  and  to-day  their  party  organization  is  an- 
nihilated, and  they  are  facing  political  extermination.  They 
helped  Roosevelt  destroy  Hughes,  and  now  Roosevelt  is  des- 
troying them. 

Had  they  stood  by  Governor  Hughes  after  his  election  in  1906 
...  it  is  very  likely  that  Charles  E.  Hughes  would  be  President 
of  the  United  States.  They  could  have  made  him  President 
in  spite  of  the  Roosevelt  machine.  If  Mr.  Hughes  had  been 
nominated  for  President  instead  of  Mr.  Taft,  there  would 
be  no  Roosevelt  third-term  candidacy,  no  Progressive  party, 
no  wreck  of  the  Republican  organization,  no  certainty  of 
Republican  defeat. 

The  campaign  of  1909  was  to  New  York  City  as  im- 
portant as  that  of  Presidential  year.  A  Mayor  and 
Board  of  Estimate  were  to  be  elected  for  four  years. 
The  World  had  long  urged  as  a  candidate  for  Governor 
or  Mayor  William  J.  Gaynor,  whose  prowess  against 
McKane,  of  Gravesend,  has  been  described.  Justice 
Gaynor  was  one  of  the  strongest  men  of  the  city.  Upon 
the  Supreme  Court  bench  he  had  refused  to  be  lost  to 
sight.  His  energy,  his  interest  in  public  affairs,  and  the 
piquancy  of  phrasing  that  made  his  public  utterances 
readable  kept  him  prominent. 

The  Republican  machine  after  futile  negotiations  for 
fusion  nominated  Otto  Bannard  as  a  "straight"  candi- 
date. The  Civic  Alliance  that  had  succeeded  to  the 


CHARLES    EVANS    HUGHES        239 

Independence  League  repented  of  its  former  friendship 
for  Gaynor,  and  nominated  Mr.  Hearst  himself.  Fusion 
was  fortunately  accomplished  in  nominations  for  some 
other  offices. 

Boss  Murphy,  once  more  showing  the  boldness  that  had 
impelled  him  to  draft  Grout  and  Fornes  from  the  Fusion 
ticket  of  1903,  caused  the  indorsement  of  Justice  Gaynor 
by  the  Democratic  City  Convention.  He  had  already  been 
nominated  by  petition.  The  World  in  supporting  Judge 
Gaynor  had  no  fear  of  his  proving  putty  in  Murphy's 
hands.  Gaynor  was,  in  fact,  selected  for  Mayor  by  pub- 
lic opinion. 

Mr.  Hearst's  vote  was  weaker  than  in  1905.  He  was 
third  in  the  race;  Gaynor  led  Bannard  by  73,074  votes. 
In  minor  offices  fusion  fared  well.  Said  The  World  the 
day  after  election: 

Tammany  was  beaten  by  Democrats  and  lost  the  city  gov- 
ernment to  Democrats. 

John  P.  Mitchel,  elected  President  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen, 
is  a  Democrat.  George  McAneny,  elected  President  of  the 
Borough  of  Manhattan,  is  a  Democrat.  Alfred  E.  Steers, 
elected  President  of  the  Borough  of  Brooklyn,  is  a  Democrat: 
Lawrence  J.  Gresser,  elected  President  of  the  Borough  of 
Queens,  is  a  Democrat.  Cyrus  C.  Miller,  elected  President  of 
the  Borough  of  the  Bronx,  is  a  Democrat. 

These  were  some  of  the  men  upon  whom  the  Hearst 
party  had  fused  with  Republicans.  Although  Gresser 
was  later  forced  out  of  office,  the  fusion  city  and  borough 
government  thus  provided  for  was  much  better  than 
its  Tammany  predecessors.  It  was  no  small  thing  for 
New  York  to  have  as  Borough  President  of  Manhattan 
Mr.  McAneny  instead  of  the  incompetent  Ahearn;  and 
Mr.  Miller  in  the  Bronx  to  replace  the  impossible  Haffen. 
With  a  Republican  Comptroller,  with  so  excellent  a 
Republican  District  Attorney  of  New  York  County  as 


240  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

Charles  S.  Whitman  and  a  fusion  Board  of  Aldermen, 
New  York  for  the  four  years  beginning  with  January  1, 
1910,  was  anything  but  a  Tammany  preserve. 

In  its  first  few  months  Mayor  Gaynor's  administration 
so  far  surpassed  all  predecessors  as  to  seem  almost  magic. 
The  tax  rate  was  bravely  put  up  to  stop  borrowing  money 
for  current  expenses,  and  an  appropriation  of  ten  million 
dollars  was  made  to  clear  off  bad  assets  upon  which  the 
city  had  been  borrowing.  Sluggish  Commissioners  were 
forced  out  of  office.  Excellent  appointments  were  the 
rule.  Economy  intruded  where  it  had  long  been  a 
stranger.  Waste  was  cut  off  in  the  Board  of  City  Record, 
in  aqueduct  appraisals,  in  many  departments.  Borough 
appointments  were  generally  excellent.  When  after  less 
than  seven  months  of  new  life  for  the  city  the  Mayor  was 
stricken  down  by  the  bullet  of  a  would-be  assassin  the 
country  was  appalled  at  the  threatened  loss  of  one  of  its 
great  figures. 

If  in  succeeding  years  Mayor  Gaynor's  administration 
lost  strength  and  popularity  the  causes  are  easy  to  esti- 
mate. First  among  them  all,  the  conduct  of  the  Police 
Department,  always  a  Mayor's  toughest  problem,  was 
cast  into  discredit  by  the  murder  of  Herman  Rosenthal, 
a  gambler  who  had  promised  to  reveal  secrets  of  the 
complicity  of  the  police  "system"  with  protected  vice  and 
law-breaking. 

Rosenthal  had  complained  to  the  Mayor  that  Lieuten- 
ant Charles  Becker,  who  commanded  a  squad  of  "strong- 
arm"  police,  had  been  his  partner  in  the  illicit  venture 
of  conducting  a  gambling-house,  but  was  now  persecut- 
ing him.  For  that  reason  he  was  willing  to  become  an 
informer.  Rosenthal  got  little  sympathy  from  the  Mayor, 
and  took  his  story  to  The  World,  which  prepared  it  for 
publication.  Rosenthal  was  also  about  to  go  before  the 
Grand  Jury,  and  this  became  known  by  his  old  associates. 
Early  in  the  morning  of  July  16,  1912,  he  was  called  out 


CHARLES    EVANS    HUGHES        241 

of  the  Hotel  Metropole,  Forty-third  Street  near  Broad- 
way, and  shot  dead  within  sight  of  a  number  of  people  by 
men  who  fled  in  a  gray  automobile. 

Circumstances  pointed  to  a  prearranged  escape.  Police- 
men in  the  vicinity  got  the  number  of  the  gray  automo- 
bile wrong.  A  civilian  who  took  down  the  correct  num- 
ber and  reported  it  at  the  station-house  was  locked  up, 
to  his  amazement.  By  good  fortune  the  news  promptly 
reached  District- Attorney  Charles  S.  Whitman,  who  went 
to  the  station-house  in  the  early  morning  hours,  released 
and  questioned  the  imprisoned  witness,  and  set  the  de- 
tectives of  his  own  office  upon  the  trail. 

The  World  at  once  published  RosenthaPs  long  story  of 
his  underworld  experience  of  police  protection  and  per- 
secution. His  death  set  the  seal  of  truth  upon  every 
sordid  detail  of  the  recital.  The  murder  explained  the 
story;  the  story  explained  the  murder.  This  publica- 
tion, coupled  with  Mr.  Whitman's  prompt  action,  pre- 
vented the  crime  from  dropping  into  the  class  of  "  mys- 
terious" killings  in  New  York  due  to  gang  and  gambler 
warfare,  for  which  often  no  culprit  is  found  guilty.  The 
city  was  aroused.  The  crime  would  not  blow  over. 
Soon,  through  the  tracing  of  the  gray  automobile  and  its 
chauffeur,  four  " gunmen"  who  did  the  shooting  became 
known,  and  with  them  evidence  to  connect  Lieutenant 
Becker  with  the  crime.  Out  of  the  slime  of  the  under- 
world witnesses  were  haled  who  knew  and  who,  to  save 
their  own  lives  or  liberty  as  accomplices,  were  compelled 
to  tell  how  Becker  had  ordered  the  gunmen  to  kill  Rosen- 
thai,  had  assured  them  of  immunity  from  punishment, 
had  arranged  that  " getaway  money"  be  paid  them  by  a 
wealthy  gambler. 

Instead  of  offering  the  district  attorney  assistance,  the 
Mayor  made,  and  afterward  adhered  to,  the  grave  error 
of  treating  him  as  the  enemy  of  the  police  force  and  the 
city  administration.  He  bade  Police  Commissioner 


242  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

Waldo  retain  Lieutenant  Becker  on  the  force  until  his 
arrest.  He  criticized  Becker  only  for  having  sat  at  table 
with  "a  scoundrel  like  Rosenthal."  Even  after  Becker's 
conviction  Mr.  Gaynor  spoke  of  this  man,  who  had  held 
the  power  of  life  and  death  and  had  boasted  of  his  ability 
to  give  immunity  to  murderers,  as  "only  a  little  lieuten- 
ant." It  almost  seemed  as  if  the  police  authorities  were 
willing  to  see  the  accused  men  and  the  witnesses  balk 
justice.  But  the  district  attorney  gradually  rounded 
them  up,  some  in  the  city,  one  witness  from  as  far  away 
as  Hot  Springs,  Arkansas,  and  brought  the  whole  crew 
into  a  court  of  justice. 

Becker  was  tried  first,  and  on  October  24th,  less  than 
three  months  after  his  arrest,  he  was  convicted.  The 
four  gunmen — young  degenerates  of  an  ordinary  type, 
members  of  a  criminal  gang — were  convicted  on  Novem- 
ber 19th.  The  World  sought  to  read  "New  York's  Great 
Lesson"  in  these  famous  trials  and  to  enforce  the  need  of 
vigilance: 

The  murder  of  Rosenthal  brought  the  hideous  meaning  of 
the  System  home  to  every  man  and  woman  in  New  York,  but 
the  sequel  has  demonstrated  the  capacity  of  this  crime-ridden 
community  to  re-establish  a  government  of  law.  New  York 
is  no  longer  at  the  mercy  of  its  criminals,  whether  in  or  out  of 
the  Police  Department. 

This  city  found  in  Charles  S.  Whitman  a  District  Attorney 
who  measured  up  to  every  responsibility  of  his  office.  It  found 
in  John  W.  Goff  a  just  and  upright  Judge  who  never  hesitated 
to  do  his  duty  as  he  saw  it.  It  found  in  the  jury  that  convicted 
Becker  and  in  the  jury  that  convicted  the  four  young  crooks 
who  did  the  actual  killing  twenty-four  citizens  who  have  helped 
restore  public  respect  for  the  administration  of  justice. 

Even  though  the  Mayor  missed  the  great  opportunity  of 
leadership  that  he  owed  to  the  community,  even  though  the 
Police  Commissioner  deluded  himself  into  believing  that  the 
System  was  a  myth,  organized  government  has  again  vindicated 
itself. 


CHARLES    EVANS    HUGHES        243 

For  the  time  being  the  alliance  between  the  police  and  the 
criminals  is  broken,  and  by  vigorous  administration  it  will  stay 
broken. ...  A  body  of  intelligent  public  opinion  has  been  created 
that  will  make  it  easier  to  reorganize  the  Police  Department, 
purge  it  of  its  debauched  elements  and  re-establish  the  ascend- 
ancy of  its  majority  of  honest  men. 

Besides  vigilance  there  was  needed,  for  permanent  re- 
form, the  abandonment  of  hypocrisy: 

A  death-sentence  of  Becker,  a  death-sentence  of  the  four 
gunmen,  a  death-sentence  of  gang  rule,  a  death-sentence  of 
the  System.  And  then  what? 

For  a  little  while  a  purified  city;  and  then  a  new  Becker, 
new  gunmen,  a  new  gang  rule,  a  new  System,  a  resurrection  of 
all  the  evils  which  we  think  we  are  burying,  unless  there  is 
also  passed  a  death-sentence  on  the  conditions  which  directly 
created  these  evils.  .  .  . 

So  long  as  an  Anglo-Saxon  hypocrisy  persists  in  making 
felonious  everything  that  it  considers  shocking,  so  long  as  it 
brands  as  crimes  those  practices  which  other  broader-minded 
and  equally  civilized  nations  handle  as  public  nuisances,  so  long 
as  an  Albany  Legislature  takes  it  upon  itself  to  decree  a  rigid, 
standardized,  criminally  enforceable  code  of  manners  and  of 
morals  for  a  city  nearly  half  of  whose  inhabitants  come  from 
a  score  of  foreign  lands  each  with  its  own  customs  and  stand- 
ards, so  long  as  such  a  Legislature  strives  to  create  fiat  chastity, 
fiat  sobriety  and  fiat  frugality  in  conformity  with  its  own  pro- 
fessed ideals,  and  binds  our  local  authorities  by  oath  to  treat 
any  divergence  from  these  ideals  as  crimes,  just  so  long  will 
human  nature,  following  the  dictates  of  its  foibles,  evade  such 
laws  by  subterfuge  and  by  corruption.  And  as  soon  as  cor- 
ruption is  employed  to  evade  laws  which  the  enforcers  of 
those  laws  themselves  consider  unreasonable,  just  so  soon  shall 
we  again  have  a  debauched  police  force,  a  System,  a  Becker, 
gangs,  gunmen,  a  city  shamed  before  the  world. 

With  the  mass  of  evidence  bearing  upon  bribery  of  the 
police  brought  out  in  these  trials  District- Attorney  Whit- 


244  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

man  went  swiftly  ahead  to  prosecute  extortioners  high 
upon  the  force  who  had  grown  wealthy  by  selling  privi- 
leges to  break  the  law,  but  against  whom  evidence  had 
been  lacking.  Policemen  of  lower  rank  were  convicted 
of  bribery,  and  following  their  trials  Inspectors  Sweeney, 
Hussey,  Murtha,  and  Thompson  were  brought  into  court 
upon  the  minor  charge  of  conspiring  to  silence  a  witness 
against  them,  one  Sipp,  the  proprietor  of  questionable 
resorts  and  a  state's  witness,  by  causing  a  vile  charge  to 
be  made  against  him  upon  which  he  was  arrested.  Sipp 
was  rescued  by  the  district  attorney.  The  evidence  was 
untangled  and  the  inspectors  convicted  in  a  group,  with 
the  graver  charges  of  bribery  and  extortion  still  hanging 
over  them. 

These  bombshells  bursting  in  the  police  force  had  not 
caused  general  agreement  with  Mayor  Gaynor,  who  con- 
tinued constant  in  praise  of  the  Police  Department;  who 
said  that  there  were  not  more  than  fifty  dishonest  men 
wearing  the  blue,  even  after  several  of  them  were  wearing 
prison  stripes;  and  who  voiced  the  police  grievances 
against  the  district  attorney.  Naturally  also  The  World, 
which  had  begun  the  clean-up  process  with  the  Rosenthal 
revelation,  continued  it  in  caustic  editorials  criticizing 
the  Mayor  and  urging  and  commending  the  activity  of 
Mr.  Whitman. 

Another  matter  in  which  The  World  opposed  Mayor 
Gaynor  was  the  settlement  of  the  subway  problem.  The 
Mayor  and  other  members  of  the  Board  of  Estimate  had 
been  elected  upon  an  understanding  that  they  favored 
the  municipal  construction  of  further  rapid- transit  lines, 
without  leasing  them  to  the  existing  Brooklyn  and  Man- 
hattan monopolies. 

The  McClellan  administration  had  used  the  city's 
credit  even  beyond  the  legal  debt  limit,  so  that  the  new 
administration  had  to  begin  by  canceling  some  $20,- 
000,000  of  commitments  against  which  bonds  were  not 


CHARLES    EVANS    HUGHES        245 

yet  issued.  The  debt  limit  had  been  increased  by  exempt- 
ing bonds  issued  for  self-supporting  purposes,  like  docks 
and  subways,  and  by  higher  assessments  which  auto- 
matically raised  the  borrowing  power.  Thus  provided 
with  funds,  it  seemed  to  The  World  that  the  city  did  not 
need  to  go  again  into  partnership  with  the  monopolies 
which  had  shown  such  scant  consideration  for  passengers 
and,  in  their  stock- jobbing  manipulations  of  transit  rights 
in  the  public  streets,  such  slight  regard  for  honesty.  The 
Mayor  joined  what  became  the  dominant  element  in  the 
Board  of  Estimate,  and  after  long  negotiation  the  com- 
plicated "dual  system"  agreement  with  the  Interborough 
Company  and  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Company  was 
struck.  This  strange  bargain  was  a  disappointment  to 
a  great  many  of  the  people,  as  it  was  to  The  World.  Under 
it  the  city's  credit  was  the  vivifying  force  in  hundreds  of 
millions  of  fresh  investments,  the  Interborough's  profits, 
unduly  swollen  by  overcrowding  upon  its  inadequate 
lines,  were  guaranteed  by  spreading  them  over  old  and 
new  capital  alike,  the  watering  of  stocks  in  the  elevated 
railroads  was  condoned  by  the  acceptance  of  their  capital 
as  entitled  to  profits;  and  the  city's  return  upon  its  own 
portion  of  the  investment  was,  in  the  opinion  of  many, 
made  uncertain  except  in  conditions  of  renewed  over- 
crowding, such  as  the  people  wished  to  end.  Yet,  how- 
ever owned,  the  new  subways  will  be  a  potent  force  in 
building  a  vaster  New  York  than  was  dreamed  of  thirty 
years  ago. 

As  Mayor  Gaynor's  administration  is  not  complete  the 
time  has  not  come  for  any  journal  to  pass  judgment  upon 
it.  In  1911,  before  the  final  disposition  of  the  rapid- 
transit  bargain,  and  before  the  Rosenthal  murder,  The 
World  said  of  it  and  of  the  Mayor: 

We  think  that  Mr.  Gaynor  has  been  a  very  good  Mayor. 
Up  to  the  time  he  was  shot  last  summer,  we  think  he  was  prob- 


246  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

ably  the  best  Mayor  New  York  had  had  within  the  memory  of 
any  man  then  living  We  still  think  he  is  a  better1  May  or  than 
Mr.  McClellan  or  Mr.  Low  or  Mr.  Van  Wyck,  and  that  the 
municipal  service  is  in  better  condition  than  at  any  other  time 
since  consolidation.  .  .  . 

If  anybody  chooses  to  say  that  Mr.  Gaynor  is  irascible  and 
irritable  in  his  discussions  of  public  affairs,  we  shall  agree  with 
him;  but  we  are  aware  of  no  provision  in  the  Constitution  of 
the  State  or  the  charter  of  the  city  which  asserts  that  the 
Mayor  of  New  York  must  be  sweet-tempered  and  gentle  and 
lovable.  Mr.  Gaynor  is  rather  difficult  to  get  along  with  at 
times  and  we  are  glad  that  we  have  no  personal  relations  with 
him;  but  these  infirmities  of  disposition  do  not  greatly  concern 
the  public  welfare.  Most  of  the  people  that  the  Mayor  scolds 
are  office-holders  and  they  are  competent  to  take  care  of  their 
own  troubles. 

Many  citizens  are  undoubtedly  disappointed  because  the 
Mayor  has  not  done  better,  because  he  has  not  accomplished 
more.  This  is  an  honest  disappointment.  The  World  would 
be  very  reluctant  to  accept  the  Gaynor  administration  as  the 
highest  possible  achievement  in  the  way  of  city  government; 
but  it  spells  progress,  and  we  fervently  hope  that  New  York 
may  never  have  a  worse  Mayor  than  William  J.  Gaynor. 


XVIII 

"THE  MAP  OF  BRYANISM" 

1906-1908 

Mr.  Bryan's  Return  from  a  Trip  Around  the  World — He  Conquers  "The 
Enemy's  Country"  —  Practically  Nominated  Two  Years  in  Advance — 
"The  World's"  Strong  Protest — Mr.  Taft's  Selection  Becomes  Certain — 
A  Big-Stick  Convention — The  Nation's  Need  of  An  Opposition — Untimely 
Death  of  Gov.  John  A.  Johnson  of  Minnesota — Taft  Elected  by  His 
Opponent's  Weakness — The  Hard-Times  Issue  Goes  for  Naught.  r 

RETURNING  from  a  trip  around  the  world,  during  which 
he  had  been  received  with  honors  in  many  lands  and  had 
made  notable  addresses,  William  Jennings  Bryan  reached 
New  York  Wednesday,  August  29,  1906,  He  was 
greeted  by  Democrats  from  every  section  and  hailed  as 
then-  next  candidate  for  the  Presidency. 

The  World  did  not  wait  to  hear  Mr.  Bryan's  speech  to  an 
immense  audience  in  Madison  Square  Garden  the  following 
night  before  warning  Democrats  of  the  folly  of  "tying 
their  own  hands  and  closing  the  door  of  opportunity 
against  themselves  two  years  in  advance  of  the  cam- 
paign." It  told  Mr.  Bryan  that  the  well-heralded  appeal 
he  was  about  to  make  for  government  ownership  of  the 
railroads  was  "a  scheme  of  state  socialism  absolutely 
revolutionary. ' '  It  described  the  premature  Presidential 
demonstration  as  the  "most  impolitic,  foolish  abdication 
of  power  on  the  part  of  a  great  political  organization  ever 
recorded"  in  the  United  States. 

Mr.  Bryan's  speech  was  rapturously  applauded  in  what 
was  once  "the  enemy's  country,"  and  government  owner- 


248  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

ship  was  temporarily  added  to  the  patchwork  which 
Democratic  policy  had  become  under  his  leadership. 
Less  than  a  year  later  the  pattern  was  again  changed 
when,  on  July  20,  1907,  Mr.  Bryan  in  a  formal  statement 
said: 

Government  ownership  is  not  an  immediate  issue.  A  large  majority 
of  the  people  still  hope  for  effective  regulation.  While  they  so  hope 
they  will  not  consider  government  ownership.  While  many  Demo- 
crats believe,  and  Mr.  Bryan  is  one  of  them,  that  public  ownership 
of  railroads  is  the  ultimate  solution  of  the  problem,  still  those  who 
believe  that  the  public  will  finally  in  self-defense  be  driven  to  owner- 
ship recognize  that  regulation  must  be  tried  under  the  most  favorable 
circumstances  before  the  masses  will  be  ready  to  try  a  more  radical 
remedy.  Regulation  cannot  be  sufficiently  tried  within  the  next 
year.  There  is  no  desire  anywhere  to  make  government  ownership 
an  issue  in  1908. 

It  was  no  new  thing  for  Mr.  Bryan  to  modify  or  defer 
his  policies  in  response  to  party  sentiment.  In  1896  he 
had  subordinated  his  tariff  opinions  to  press  the  silver 
cause.  In  1900,  while  not  consenting  to  disavow  free 
silver,  he  had  recognized  that  it  was  not  an  "  immediate 
issue"  by  making  anti-imperialism  paramount.  Between 
his  home-coming  address  and  the  statement  of  July,  1907, 
he  had  espoused  in  his  Jefferson  Day  speech  in  Brooklyn 
a  new  issue,  the  initiative  and  referendum.  Thus  was 
illustrated  the  peril,  against  which  The  World  had  warned 
the  party,  of  selecting  a  candidate  two  years  in  advance. 
"What  new  Populistic  or  Socialistic  issue  he  will  have 
by  1908  for  the  Democratic  party  to  subscribe  to,"  was 
its  comment  upon  the  July  statement,  "is  beyond  the 
ken  of  human  foresight."  And  it  repeated  a  query  of  the 
preceding  year:  "If  the  American  people  considered  Mr. 
Bryan  unsafe  in  1896  and  in  1900,  wherein  is  he  safer 
now?  In  what  respect  is  he  a  cooler  counselor  or  a  wiser 
leader  than  he  was  then?" 

After  the  disastrous  elections  of   1907  Mr.   Bryan's 


"THE    MAP    OF    BRYANISM"        249 

previous  boast  that  "the  prospects  of  the  Democratic 
party  are  very  bright  and  are  constantly  growing  brighter" 
was  recalled  by  The  World  in  the  rejoinder  that  became 
famous  as  "The  Map  of  Bryanism."  This  pictorial  rep- 
resentation of  the  harm  "16  to  1"  had  done  the  party 
and  the  country  was  devised  by  Mr.  Pulitzer  himself,  a 
blind  man,  to  convince  those  who,  having  eyes,  saw 'not. 
The  map,  which  first  appeared  November  11, 1907,  showed 
the  entire  country  north  of  Oklahoma,  Arkansas,  Ten- 
nessee, Virginia,  and  Maryland  solidly  Republican.  For 
months  the  map  was  repeated  in  every  form  the  ingenuity 
of  the  cartoonist  could  devise;  as  the  Denver  convention 
drew  near  it  was  usually  drawn  upon  the  side  of  a  Con- 
estoga  wagon,  or  "prairie-schooner,"  headed  for  "Pike's 
Peak  or  Bust."  Eventually  the  "Map  of  Bryanism," 
by  which  The  World  protested  against  the  courting  of 
defeat  in  advance,  was  made  the  text  of  a  vigorous 
pamphlet  which  was  widely  circulated.  The  power  of 
this  appeal  to  Democracy  to  seek  the  way  of  success  and 
usefulness  may  be  indicated  by  a  citation.  The  date  is 
February,  1908.  The  appeal  is  to  Mr.  Bryan  himself: 

Your  leadership  of  the  Democratic  party,  Mr.  Bryan,  began 
with  the  National  Convention  held  in  Chicago  in  1896.  It  was 
an  unfortunate  year  for  a  national  campaign. 

The  American  people  were  paying  the  penalty  of  thirty  years 
of  trifling  with  their  currency  and  their  monetary  standard 
of  value.  Industry  was  half  paralyzed,  commerce  semi- 
prostrate.  Crops  had  been  poor,  the  price  of  farm  products 
was  low;  the  farms  themselves  were  generally  mortgaged. 
The  National  Government  itself  with  a  demoralized  treasury, 
was  borrowing  money  to  pay  its  current  expenses  under  the 
form  of  maintaining  the  gold  reserve.  Bond  sales  to  favored 
syndicates  had  aroused  the  indignation  of  the  people,  without 
regard  to  party.  Probably  a  million  men  in  the  cities  were 
out  of  work.  Soup-houses  had  been  opened  during  the  two 
preceding  winters,  and  in  every  large  center  of  population  police- 
stations  had  been  filled  nightly  by  homeless  wanderers. 
17 


250  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

Armies  of  tramps  moved  sullenly  along  the  highways.  A 
Democratic  Administration  was  in  power,  which  seemingly  had 
no  friends  except  its  own  appointees  and  beneficiaries.  Dis- 
content was  almost  universal.  It  was  the  hour  of  the  agitator, 
and  the  Democratic  National  Convention  was  his  opportunity. 

There  were  orators,  there  were  demagogues,  there  were  self- 
seekers;  there  were  in  plenty  Jack  Cades,  with  seven  half- 
penny loaves  on  sale  for  a  penny;  but  something  more  was 
needed,  and  that  was  a  man  who  gave  evidence  of  zeal,  who 
had  not  been  conspicuously  identified  with  ancient  party  feuds, 
and  who,  by  his  demeanor,  might  inspire  the  despairing,  satisfy 
the  frantic,  excite  the  luke-warm  and  appeal  to  the  imagina- 
tion of  the  doubtful  voter. 

That  man  appeared  in  the  person  of  you,  William  Jennings 
Bryan,  then  thirty-six  years  old,  at  that  moment  editor  of  an 
Omaha  newspaper  by  grace  of  the  silver-miners,  and  affec- 
tionately known  in  the  West  as  "the  Boy  Orator  of  the  Platte." 

The  "Map  of  Bryanism"  from  this  point  traced  Mr. 
Bryan's  career  through  the  reverse  of  1896,  the  four  fol- 
lowing years  of  experiment,  the  more  decided  disaster  of 
1900,  the  fresh  coquettings  with  strange  doctrine — in  short, 
the  twelve  years  of  division  and  defeat.  The  World  argued 
that  there  were  men  who  could  make  appeal  to  the  new 
spirit  in  the  Democracy — the  spirit  that  four  years  later 
was  to  bear  it  past  all  obstacles  to  a  notable  victory. 
Foremost  among  them  at  this  time  was  John  A.  Johnson, 
Governor  of  Minnesota,  who  had  been  elected  in  1904 
by  a  plurality  of  6,352  on  the  same  day  that  his  state 
gave  Roosevelt  161,464  plurality.  Governor  Johnson 
had  been  re-elected  by  76,633  plurality  in  1906.  One  of 
the  strongest,  simplest  figures  in  American  political  life, 
he  was  the  candidate  of  his  state  for  the  Democratic 
nomination  for  the  Presidency;  his  death  in  September, 
1909,  was  a  loss  to  Minnesota  and  the  Union.  Judge 
Gray,  of  Delaware,  known  throughout  the  country  for 
his  able  and  patriotic  action  as  chairman  of  the  commis- 
sion that  settled  the  coal  strike,  was  another  man,  strong 


"THE    MAP    OF    BRYANISM"       251 

with  the  people  and  in  his  Democracy  unquestioned,  with 
whom  the  party  might  have  retrieved  disaster. 

That  The  World  in  later  supporting  Mr.  Bryan,  after 
exhausting  all  arguments  against  his  candidacy,  was 
under  no  illusions  as  to  his  chance  of  election  was  shown 
in  its  article  of  April  24,  1908: 

William  H.  Taft  will  be  nominated  for  President  by  the 
Republican  National  Convention. 

If  William  J.  Bryan  is  to  be  the  Democratic  candidate, 
Judge  Taft's  election  is  certain.  There  need  be  no  anxiety 
as  to  the  outcome  of  another  Bryan  campaign;  no  increased 
industrial  suspense,  no  further  shutting  down  of  factories,  no 
new  recruits  to  the  army  of  unemployed. 

Not  that  The  World  shut  its  eyes  to  the  graver  dangers 
which  lay  behind  immediate  confidence  in  "Taft  and 
Prosperity."  It  found  no  cause  for  congratulating  the 
public  in  the  convention  which  in  June  nominated  Mr. 
Taft.  That  ratification  meeting  swayed  at  will  by  an 
imperious  Executive  it  described  as  "A  Big  Stick  Con- 
vention." 

It  was  the  Big  Stick  that  prodded  the  Federal  employees, 
in  defiance  of  civil-service-reform  law  or  principle,  into  frantic 
activity  for  Taft;  that  marshaled  the  delegates;  that  clubbed 
contestants  out  of  court.  The  Big  Stick  wrote  the  keynote 
speech,  selected  the  committees  of  the  Convention,  called  it  to 
order,  directed  its  nominal  deliberations.  Familiar  Big-Stick 
phrases  and  ideas  fill  the  platform  that  was  given  out  in  Chicago 
before  the  Convention  had  even  assembled — and  the  Big  Stick 
brands  this  same  platform,  full  of  praise  of  the  Big  Stick's 
past  performances  and  promises  for  the  future,  as  a  "mere 
tentative  draft."  The  Big  Stick  scrawls  on  the  Convention 
door  the  names  of  approved  Vice-Presidential  candidates,  to 
the  impotent  anger  of  Republican  managers,  and  nails  down 
the  anti-injunction  plank  while  conservative  leaders  shriek 
themselves  hoarse  in  vain  protest.  The  Big  Stick,  waved  over 


252  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

apprehensive  monopolies,  will  provide  the  campaign  funds;  it 
will  admonish  the  spellbinders,  lead  the  bands,  conduct  the 
campaign  for  both  parties  and  wear  the  credit  of  the  result. 

The  Republican  platform,  while  declaring  for  tariff 
revision,  contained  for  the  first  time  the  doctrine  that 
protection  should  maintain  "such  duties  as  will  equal  the 
difference  between  the  cost  of  production  at  home  and 
abroad,  together  with  a  reasonable  profit  to  American 
industries"  It  made  no  reference  to  a  federal  income  and 
inheritance  tax,  which  President  Roosevelt  had  recom- 
mended to  Congress.  Mr.  Taft's  speech  of  acceptance 
was  quite  as  disappointing.  While  The  World  admitted 
that  it  would  "  strengthen  him  with  the  very  large  busi- 
ness interests  of  the  country,"  it  found  objection  to  his 
"  fulsome  eulogy  of  Roosevelt,  his  obvious  evasion  on  the 
income  tax,  his  hedging  on  the  Philippines,  his  dishearten- 
ing apology  for  unprecedented  Republican  extravagance," 
and  added: 

His  speech  leaves  the  one  great  problem  of  the  campaign 
still  unsolved.  In  the  minds  of  intelligent,  thoughtful  voters 
everywhere  lies  this  grave  question  of  the  Republican  candi- 
date's personal  and  political  dependence  upon  Roosevelt. 

Will  Taft  be  a  President  or  a  Proxy? 

The  Democratic  National  Convention  in  July  was  also  a 
mere  indorsing  body.  Mr.  Bryan's  nomination  was  in- 
evitable. The  platform  was  much  better  than  those  of 
1896  and  1900.  It  made  no  mention  of  free  silver.  It 
contained  no  attack  on  the  courts.  Its  tariff  plank  was 
"far  more  moderate  and  restrained  than  was  the  1892 
platform  upon  which  Mr.  Cleveland  was  elected,  in  which 
a  protective  tariff  was  denounced  as  unconstitutional." 
It  upheld  the  civil-service  law.  It  favored  the  income  tax. 
Its  declaration  in  favor  of  campaign-fund  publicity  and 
a  corrupt-practices  act  gratified  the  enemies  of  political 
fraud.  In  comment  The  World  said  on  August  1st : 


"THE    MAP    OF    BRYANISM"       253 

Mr.  Bryan  will  be  wise  indeed  if  he  carries  out  his  announced 
purpose  of  "  standing  squarely  on  the  platform,"  and  on  the 
platform  alone,  subordinating  everything  else  to  the  issues  of 
the  campaign  as  officially  defined  by  the  Chicago  and  Denver 
Conventions. 

Mr.  Bryan  will  be  wiser  still  if  he  sticks  to  half  a  dozen  vitally 
Democratic  planks  in  preference  to  the  Denver  platform  as  a 
whole : 

1.  Jingoism,  with  its  bigger  armies,  bigger  navies,  crazy  war- 
scares   and   reckless    expenditures — an   issue    on   which    the 
Democratic  party  is  sane  and  sound,  as  proved  by  the  over- 
whelming refusal  of  the  Denver  Convention  to  tolerate  the 
insensate  war-shrieks  of  Hobson. 

2.  Philippinism. 

3.  Publicity  of  campaign  funds. 

4.  Roosevelt  extravagance. 

5.  Tariff  reform. 

6.  Centralization. 

These  issues  represent  fundamental  Democratic  principles. 

Upon  the  following  day  The  World  gave  at  greater  length 
its  reasons  for  a  hearty  support  of  a  candidate  whose 
nomination  it  had  fought  and  still  regretted.  This 
reason  was  the  need  of  Opposition.  However  objection- 
able the  action  of  the  Democratic  Convention  might  have 
been,  greater  dangers  lay  in  unrestricted  power  in  Wash- 
ington, with  a  Proxy  President  and  a  Big  Stick  still  bran- 
dished over  the  country: 

We  opposed  Mr.  Bryan's  nomination  on  the  ground  of  princi- 
ple and  expediency.  In  advocating  the  nomination  of  Gov. 
Johnson  or  Judge  Gray  The  World's  aim  was  the  rehabilitation 
and  revitalization  of  the  Democratic  party. 

Even  as  a  minority  party  the  Democracy  has  an  important 
duty  to  perform.  There  are  grave  wrongs  to  redress.  There 
are  shocking  abuses  of  power  to  correct.  There  is  waste  and 
extravagance  in  the  National  Government,  so  scandalous  that 
it  finds  no  parallel  in  modern  government.  No  adequate 


254  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

punishment  has  yet  been  dealt  out  to  the  eminent  pirates  of 
American  finance  who  have  reduced  law-breaking  to  a  fine  art. 
There  is  jingoism,  militarism,  imperialism,  rough-riderism, 
government  by  denunciation,  Executive  contempt  for  Congress 
and  the  courts — Rooseveltism  in  all  its  worst  manifestations, 
unchecked  and  unrestrained. 

Mr.  Bryan,  the  article  continued,  was  "fortunate  in  the 
strength  of  the  issues  which  the  Republicans  have  pre- 
sented to  him."  First  among  these  was  the  refusal  of 
the  Republican  convention  to  "  adopt  a  plank  demanding 
an  efficient  corrupt-practices  act  and  publicity  of  cam- 
paign expenditures."  Mr.  Taft  had  advocated  the 
latter  of  these  measures,  yet  the  Convention  that  nomi- 
nated him  voted  down  a  plank  upon  the  subject  by  880 
to  94!  Besides  this  great  cause  there  was  the  issue  of 
"  administrative  economy  ": 

Never  before  was  there  such  a  debauch  of  extravagance  in 
modern  government  as  that  which  the  Roosevelt  Administration 
is  responsible  for.  In  place  of  the  sensational  Billion-Dollar 
Congress,  which  Speaker  Reed  was  compelled  to  defend,  we 
have  the  Two-Billion-Dollar  Congress,  spending  a  thousand 
millions  of  public  money  at  each  annual  session.  .  .  . 

But  the  first  practical  issue  that  must  be  faced  and  squarely 
met,  is  that  of  dislocated  business  and  industry.  The  people 
of  the  United  States  need  peace,  they  need  prosperity,  they  need 
employment,  they  need  bread.  No  campaign  can  be  successful 
which  does  not  take  this  great  factor  into  consideration.  In 
place  of  an  indiscriminate  crusade-  against  all  business  and  a 
continuation  of  the  Roosevelt  reign  of  terror  must  come  a 
realization  that  guilt  is  always  personal,  and  that  the  only 
effective  way  to  deal  with  corporation  crimes  is  to  send  the  one 
responsible  man  to  jail. 

Throughout  the  campaign  The  World  had  often  to  re- 
peat its  question  whether  in  the  election  of  Mr.  Taft  the 
country  was  getting  "a  President  or  a  Proxy": 


"THE    MAP    OF    BRYANISM"       255 

There  is  need  of  real  statesmanship  at  Washington.  We  are 
spending  a  thousand  millions  a  year.  We  are  playing  a  strong 
hand  in  the  war  game.  We  are  involved  ten  thousand  miles 
away  in  colonial  adventure.  We  have  privilege  and  prostra- 
tion. We  have  plutocracy  and  depression.  We  are  giving 
the  world  a  fairly  successful  imitation  of  imperialism. 

But  empires  that  endure  have  statesmen,  economists  and 
financiers  who  look  after  resources,  and  who  note  with  care 
the  state  of  the  country  and  the  welfare  of  the  people.  Im- 
perialism must  not  rest  wholly  upon  extravagance  or  upon 
epaulets  and  ribbons.  Money  must  be  had.  It  must  be 
drawn  from  the  people  by  taxation.  If  the  people  are  to  pay 
the  taxes  they  must  be  prosperous,  and  if  discontent  is  not  to 
appear,  the  imports  must  be  just  and  reasonable,  and  not  too 
severe  a  burden  upon  enterprise  and  industry.  Expenditure 
must  be  wise. 

Much  of  our  thousand  millions  of  outgo  is  waste  and  worse. 
A  spendthrift  government  makes  a  spendthrift  people.  A 
large  percentage  of  our  taxation  is  laid  discriminatingly,  for 
the  benefit  of  favored  interests.  A  government  that  shows 
partiality  is  in  no  position  to  establish  comprehensive  justice. 
A  nation  that  wastes  is  sure  to  come  to  want.  A  government 
that  can  do  no  more  than  denounce  injustice  is  certain  to  be  a 
failure. 

Since  Mr.  Taft  has  refused  to  discuss  the  important  questions 
bearing  upon  business  and  industrial  revival,  the  re-employment 
of  the  idle,  the  fairer  distribution  of  public  burdens  and  the 
reduction  of  the  cost  of  living,  it  is  gratifying  to  note  the  fact 
that  Mr.  Bryan  promises  to  devote  his  first  speech  of  the  cam- 
paign to  these  problems.  The  subject  has  been  too  long  neg- 
lected by  our  public  men.  .  .  •. 

If  Mr.  Taft  aims  to  be  President  he  should  have  some  ideas 
on  these  highly  important  questions,  even  if  they  do  involve 
criticism  of  Mr.  Roosevelt,  and  he  should  express  them  fearlessly. 
If  he  is  content  to  be  a  Proxy  he  will  continue  as  he  has  begun, 
with  eyes  turned  toward  Oyster  Bay,  and  in  a  posture  of  adoration. 

"The  first  speech  of  the  campaign"  by  Mr.  Bryan  when 
it  came  was  something  of  a  disappointment: 


256  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

Legitimate  and  proper  as  this  arraignment  of  Republicanism 
must  be  considered,  it  loses  much  force  by  reason  of  its  studied 
avoidance  of  the  equally  glaring  errors  of  Rooseveltism.  In 
some  respects  it  resembles  a  Roosevelt  message  to  Congress. 
It  leaves  the  impression  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  has  been  in  the 
right  at  all  times;  that  his  policies  have  been  wise  and  just; 
that  his  methods  have  been  correct,  and  that  his  failures  have 
resulted  through  no  fault  of  his  own.  That  is  not  the  case. 
There  can  be  no  true  estimate  of  the  wrongs,  follies  and  disasters 
that  are  to  be  forever  associated  with  this  administration 
which  does  not  take  into  the  fullest  account  the  personal 
responsibility  of  the  President. 

Probably  the  favor  thus  shown  to  Mr.  Roosevelt  accounts 
for  the  astonishing  fact  that  in  all  of  Mr.  Bryan's  5,000  and 
more  words,  the  word  " extravagance,"  the  word  " retrench- 
ment," and  the  phrase  "waste  of  public  money"  do  not  appear. 
Such  an  oversight  would  be  considered  extraordinary  and 
unprecedented  in  a  leader  of  any  Opposition,  and  it  is  emphatic- 
ally so  in  the  leader  of  a  Democratic  Opposition  to  crazy 
Republican  profligacy  at  Washington.  What  would  Tilden 
have  said  under  such  provocation?  What  oratorical  thunder- 
bolts would  Gladstone,  in  opposition,  have  hurled  at  a  ministry 
having  such  a  record? 

Mr.  Bryan's  speech  of  acceptance  was  a  notable  state 
paper.  He  advanced  three  reasons  for  the  failure  of 
reform  measures  under  the  Republican  administration 
even  when  advocated  by  the  Republican  President: 

(1)  The  Republican  party  as  an  organization  has  drawn 
its  campaign  funds  from  the  beneficiaries  of  privilege; 
it  has  sold  legislation  and  immunity  to  favored  interests, 
and  it  has  naturally  refused  to  provide  for  publicity  in 
the  matter  of  campaign  contributions  and  expenditures. 

(2)  The  Republican  Senate  of  the  United  States,  the  very 
citadel  of  privilege  and  plunder,  has  stubbornly  refused  to 
pass  the  resolution  for  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution 
permitting  the  election  of  Senators  by  the  people.     (3)  The 
Republican  party,  through  the  despotism  of  the  Speaker 


'THE    MAP    OF    BRYANISM"       257 

and  the  rules  governing  the  House  of  Representatives, 
has  made  that  body  a  creature  of  the  interests  rather  than 
a  servant  of  the  people. 

As  to  such  of  his  personal  ideas  as  were  not  contained 
in  the  party  declaration  of  principles  Mr.  Bryan  said 
"a  platform  is  binding  as  to  what  it  omits  as  well  as  to 
what  it  contains.  ...  A  platform  announces  the  party's 
position  on  the  questions  which  are  at  issue,  and  an 
official  is  not  at  liberty  to  use  the  authority  vested  in  him 
to  urge  personal  views  which  have  not  been  submitted 
to  the  voters  for  their  approval.'7  These  sentences  were 
tombstones  over  the  graves  of  free  silver,  of  government 
ownership  of  railroads,  of  the  initiative  and  the  referendum, 
and  of  hostility  to  the  courts.  This  guarded  utterance 
encouraged  The  World  to  hope  that  Opposition  might  be 
aggressive,  unsensational,  and  not  without  a  generous 
support  at  the  polls: 

Although  Mr.  Roosevelt  in  his  stump  speeches  for  two  years 
vehemently  insisted  upon  the  restriction  of  " swollen  fortunes" 
by  means  of  income  and  inheritance  taxes,  not  one  word  appears 
in  Mr.  Roosevelt's  Chicago  platform  in  favor  of  these  just  and 
equitable  measures. 

In  spite  of  all  his  frenzied  denunciation  of  malefactors  of 
great  wealth,  all  "the  malefactors  of  great  wealth"  are  praising 
the  platform  and  pledging  their  support  on  the  ticket. 

To  make  assurance  doubly  sure  that  the  work  of  his  conven- 
tion would  command  the  approval  of  Wall  Street  and  the 
predatory  elements  in  general,  Mr.  Roosevelt  made  James  S. 
Sherman  the  party  candidate  for  Vice-President.  Mr.  Sherman 
represents  the  very  tendencies  in  politics  that  Mr.  Roosevelt 
pretends  to  oppose  so  violently.  Yet  Mr.  Roosevelt  elevates 
this  astute  representative  of  Wall  Street  politics  to  the  dignity 
of  a  Man  of  My  Type.  .  .  . 

The  World  will  treat  Mr.  Bryan  with  scrupulous  fairness 
and  justice.  It  will  endeavor  to  treat  him  more  than  gener- 
ously because  it  so  vigorously  argued  against  his  nomination. 
Our  conviction  is  stronger  than  ever  that  Governor  Johnson  or 


258  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

Judge  Gray  could  have  polled  tens  of  thousands  of  votes  which 
Mr.  Bryan  cannot  get.  But  if  Mr.  Bryan  should  adhere  to 
his  admirable  speech  of  acceptance  and  the  gratifying  pledges 
to  bury  the  past,  and  should  prove  during  the  campaign  that 
he  has  profited  by  defeat  and  unlearned  his  past  follies  in  the 
school  of  experience;  if  he  should  resolutely  keep  his  back 
turned  upon  the  delusive  issues  which  he  has  hitherto  advocated ; 
if  he  should  refrain  from  attacks  upon  the  courts;  if  he  should 
avoid  all  appeals  to  class  prejudice;  if  he  should  prove  that  he 
is  not  the  old  Bryan,  courageously  leading  the  popular  protest 
against  the  excesses  of  Rooseveltism,  he  can  then  appeal  with 
fair  prospects  of  success  to  the  great  independent  vote — in 
some  States  the  deciding  vote — that  will  be  governed  not  by 
clamor  but  by  reason;  not  by  claptrap  but  by  conscience; 
not  by  noise  but  by  facts  and  truth;  not  by  appeals  to  class 
hatred  and  ignorance  but  by  appeals  to  public  intelligence — 
public  intelligence. 

The  World's  anxiety  lest  Mr.  Taft  should  prove  a 
Proxy  and  not  a  President  continued  to  be  complicated 
by  evidence  that  Mr.  Bryan  also  had  been  affected  by  the 
glamour  of  the  retiring  President's  power  and  the  appeal 
of  his  policies,  and  was  in  danger  of  conducting  his  cam- 
paign as  a  Proxy  candidate.  In  September,  at  the  outset 
of  the  active  campaign,  The  World  thus  treated  "An 
Amazing  Situation": 

The  Democrats  have  stout  rods  in  pickle  for  the  Republicans 
this  year,  as  is  proved  by  their  campaign  book  of  300  pages, 
but  they  apply  none  of  them  to  the  Republican  President. 

They  are  opposed  to  jingoism,  militarism  and  imperialism, 
and  yet  the  most  warlike  of  Presidents  escapes  criticism. 
They  denounce  extravagance  at  Washington,  and  yet  the  man 
who  is  largely  responsible  for  this  reckless  expenditure  finds 
no  accuser.  They  make  war  upon  the  privileged  plutocrats 
of  the  tariff,  the  combines  and  the  trusts,  and  yet  the  only 
President  who  ever  sent  for  a  Harriman  and  arranged  for  the 
collection  of  a  campaign  corruption  fund  is  nowhere  condemned. 
.  .  .  They  reproach  the  Republican  party  for  its  failure  to 


/'THE    MAP    OF    BRYANISM"       259 

enforce  the  laws  against  the  pirates  of  interstate  commerce, 
and  yet  the  President  who  holds  that  the  laws  are  too  drastic 
and  that  they  must  be  modified,  goes  free  of  censure.  .  .  . 

Mr.  Roosevelt  appears  to  have  talked  everybody  but  the 
socialists  to  a  standstill.  Democrats  as  well  as  Republicans 
are  shy  of  him.  His  party  is  harshly  condemned  for  the  things 
that  he  has  done  and  for  the  things  that  he  has  not  done;  but 
the  man  of  profligacy,  the  man  of  Privilege,  Protection  and 
Plutocracy,  the  man  of  imperialism,  the  man  of  jingoism  and 
war  and  the  man  of  campaign-fund  secrecy  is  set  so  high  above 
the  mischief  he  has  wrought  that  nobody  undertakes  to  call 
him  to  account. 

In  his  letter  to  Conrad  Kohrs  President  Roosevelt 
himself,  while  emphatically  repudiating  Bryan  as  a  dis- 
ciple, proclaimed  Taft  his  lawful  heir,  and  declared  that 
"The  policies  for  which  I  stand  are  his  policies  no  less 
than  mine."  This  public  acceptance  of  Taft  as  a  Proxy 
made  the  Republican  candidate  shoulder  the  burdens 
of  the  Roosevelt  administration,  which  The  World  had 
thus  summarized: 

1.  It  has  been  extravagant  and  wasteful. 

2.  It  has  attempted  to  popularize  war. 

3.  It  has  glorified  in  Philippine  imperialism. 

4.  It  has  menaced  the  States  with  Federal  usurpation  by 
means  of  constructive  jurisprudence. 

5.  It  has  recklessly  undermined  confidence  in  our  business 
methods,  causing  panic,  depression  and  suffering. 

6.  It  has  profited  by  the  political  contributions  of  corpora- 
tions seeking  legislative  favors. 

7.  It  has  spoken   vociferously   against   the  malefactors  of 
great  wealth,  but  it  has  not  brought  one  of  them  to  justice. 

8.  It  has  bullied  Congress,  threatening  to  do  as  it  pleased, 
law  or  no  law. 

9.  It  has  assailed  the  courts  when  their  judgments  were 
contrary  to  its  wishes. 

10.  It  has  maintained  the  highest  tariff  ever  known  in  a  free 


260  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

country  and  has  made  no  move  in  favor  of  income  and  inheri- 
tance taxes. 

11.  It  has  constantly  demanded  law  and  more  law  for  the 
protection  of  trusts,  although  existing  laws  are  held  by  it  to 
be  too  drastic  for  enforcement. 

12.  It  is  now  attempting  to  round  out  a  career  of  wilfulness, 
greed,   ambition    and   tyranny  by  forcing  the  election  of  a 
personally  excellent  and  amiable  Proxy. 

These,  said  The  World,  "are  legitimate  issues;  they  are 
timely  issues;  they  are  Democratic  issues."  Mr.  Bryan's 
"  opportunity  lies  not  in  an  appeal  to  the  Roosevelt 
Republicans,  most  of  whom  will  naturally  go  to  Mr.  Taft, 
but  in  an  appeal  to  Democrats  and  to  that  great  inde- 
pendent element  in  the  electorate  that  is  tired  of  extrava- 
gance, of  militarism,  of  imperialism,  of  rough-riderism,  of 
centralization,  of  personal  government,  of  big-stick  ad- 
ministration and  political  partnership  with  predatory 
plutocracy.  Let  Mr.  Taft  be  the  Proxy.  Let  Mr.  Taft 
be  the  heir  to  My  Policies.  But  let  Mr.  Bryan  be  the 
Democratic  candidate  for  President  of  the  United  States." 

In  this  view  of  the  campaign  of  1908  the  function  of 
Opposition  was  opposition. 

Those  who  with  The  World  supported  Mr.  Bryan  in 
that  spirit  did  not  expect  his  victory.  They  looked 
beyond  to  the  heartening  of  the  opposition  party,  the 
healing  of  its  wounds,  the  promotion  of  its  chances  of 
success  in  later  contests.  And  in  this,  at  least,  they  were 
successful. 

Mr.  Bryan  stood  far  higher  in  public  estimation  in  the 
East  than  in  1896.  His  honesty  of  purpose,  his  gifts,  and 
capacity  for  leadership  were  more  fairly  appraised.  But 
many  distrusted  him  not  more  for  heresies  he  had  es- 
poused than  for  the  fact  that  he  had  so  lightly  turned 
from  one  " paramount'7  idea  to  another.  "What  assur- 
ance have  we,"  men  said,  "that  Mr.  Bryan  might  not  in 
the  Presidency  invent  yearly  new  ideas  for  government 


"THE    MAP    OF    BRYANISM"       261 

innovation  which,  in  that  high  seat,  would  shock  the 
country  and  upset  industry?"  Between  the  twice-beaten 
candidate,  with  his  handicap  of  innovation,  and  the 
Proxy  of  a  President  still  powerful  and  popular,  a  Proxy 
whose  own  character  and  ability  were  known,  the  choice 
was  easy  to  predict. 

Moreover,  there  was  an  impression  that  the  tariff 
would  really  be  "  re  vised  by  its  friends."  The  Republi- 
can platform  was  discouraging,  but  Mr.  Taft  was  com- 
mitted to  " honest  downward  revision."  As  to  Congress, 
the  people  trusted  to  the  political  effect  of  the  strong 
protest  within  the  Republican  party  to  compel  reasonable 
lowering  of  duties  upon  the  necessaries  of  life. 

The  defeat  was  crushing.  Mr.  Bryan  had  a  million 
more  votes  than  Judge  Parker  in  1904.  But  Mr.  Taft's 
plurality  was  the  second  largest  ever  received  by  a 
President ;  Mr.  Bryan's  vote  was  smaller  by  343,000  than 
in  1900;  smaller  by  487,000  than  in  1896.  In  the  House 
of  Representatives  the  Republicans  retained  a  majority 
of  only  fifty;  the  complexion  of  this  body  reflected  public 
dissatisfaction.  Three  Congresses  successively  since  1904 
had  shown  a  Republican  majority  decreasing.  In  the 
next  election  it  was  to  vanish. 

The  World's  comment  upon  Mr.  Bryan's  defeat  follows. 
It  was  singularly  good-natured  for  a  commentator  whose 
hopes  of  reform  in  the  national  field  had  been  blasted  for 
twelve  years  by  the  silver  folly: 

Mr.  Taft  owes  his  election  less  to  his  own  strength  than  to 
Mr.  Bryan's  weakness.  .  .  .,  'Day  after  day  we  warned  the 
Democracy  against  it.  The  morning  after  Mr.  Taft's  nomina- 
tion this  newspaper  declared  without  reservation  that  "  Bryan's 
nomination  means  Taft's  election,"  and  the  vote  yesterday 
abundantly  vindicated  this  prediction. 

Mr.  Bryan's  friends  insisted,  however,  that  he  was  entitled 
to  another  nomination  backed  by  a  united  party.  They  had 
their  way.  Mr.  Bryan  received  his  nomination  and  a  party 


262  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

more  united  than  it  has  been  since  1892  loyally  supported 
him;  but  even  a  united  party  could  not  overcome  the  handicap 
of  Mr.  Bryan's  political  record.  He  was  weaker  than  his 
party,  as  shown  by  the  vote  for  Governor  in  New  York,  Minne- 
sota, Illinois  and  elsewhere;  weaker  than  his  issues  which  he 
made  still  weaker  by  the  stupendous  folly  of  posing  as  Roose- 
velt's heir.  .  .  . 

The  Republican  candidate  had  to  bear  the  burden  of  general 
hard  times;  of  a  million  men  out  of  employment;  of  business 
interests  complaining  and  dissatisfied;  of  a  steadily  increased 
cost  of  living;  of  an  unparalleled  disaffection  of  labor  leaders; 
of  an  unparalleled  disaffection  of  the  negro  vote;  of  Repub- 
lican factional  fights  in  the  great  pivotal  states  of  New  York, 
Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois;  of  a  reactionary  platform  which 
he  was  obliged  to  modify  in  his  speech  of  acceptance. 

The  hard-times  issue  alone  was  a  burden  under  which  a  far 
stronger  candidate  than  Mr.  Taft  might  have  succumbed.  It 
is  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  country  that  a  great  panic, 
so  far  as  the  popular  vote  is  concerned,  has  not  defeated  the 
party  in  power. 

The  echoes  of  the  expected  defeat  of  Mr.  Bryan  in  a 
hopeless  campaign  were  soon  forgotten  in  an  amazing 
legal  battle  between  the  President  of  the  United  States 
and  the  leading  newspaper  of  the  Opposition. 


XIX 

THE    PANAMA    LIBEL   SUIT 

1908-1911 

The  Narrow  Bar  between  Seas  at  Panama — De  Lesseps  and  the  Crash  of 
\  the  French  Canal  Company  —  Failure  of  Colombia  to  Ratify  the  Hay- 
Herran  Treaty — The  Prepared  "Revolution" — President  Roosevelt  Takes 
the  Isthmus — William  Nelson  Cromwell  and  the  Panama  Companies — 
Mr.  Roosevelt's  Answer  to  "The  Indianapolis  News"— "The  World" 
Denounces  his  Statements  as  False — Federal  Libel  Suit  Ordered  Under  a 
Charles  I.  Law  of  1662 — Failure  of  the  Government's  Case — Crushing 
Defeat  Before  the  Supreme  Court — Later  Developments. 

AT  Panama  the  American  continent  is  thirty-five  miles 
across;  the  height  of  land  is  some  three  hundred  feet. 

To  avoid  transshipping  for  this  land  passage  freight 
may  sail  from  Colon  to  Panama  through  the  Strait  of 
Magellan,  some  seven  thousand  miles.  By  no  northern 
sea  route  can  the  isthmus  be  turned;  to  open  a  northwest 
passage  was  the  vain  dream  of  early  Arctic  navigators. 

A  canal  at  Panama  has  been  talked  of  almost  four 
hundred  years.  Familiar  is  the  story  how  Ferdinand  de 
Lesseps,  conqueror  of  the  Suez  sands,  formed  a  company 
in  Paris  in  1876  to  cut  through  the  isthmus;  how  by  1894 
$449,000,000  of  securities  had  been  sold,  $240,000,000 
of  money  expended,  one-third  of  it  in  France,  and  the  work 
scarcely  more  than  begun;  how  corruption  reigned  at  the 
isthmus  and  in  the  Panama  lobby  in  Paris;  how  workmen 
perished  in  the  swamps,  and  costly  machinery  rotted  in 
the  jungle,  and  the  work  halted,  and  the  company  failed, 
and  a  new  one  was  patched  up  and  went  on  spending 
money,  but  more  slowly  and  with  little  result ;  how  fraud 


264  THE    STORY    OF   A   PAGE 

blighted  the  undertaking,  doomed  by  physical  conditions, 
and  the  great  work  came  to  a  standstill. 

In  1876  an  American  Canal  Commission  reported  that 
the  best  route  lay  through  Nicaragua.  Warner  Miller 
and  others  formed  a  company  to  dig  a  canal  there,  spent 
some  $4,500,000,  and  gave  up  the  task. 

In  1896  a  strong  lobby  came  into  existence  whose  press- 
agents  extolled  the  Panama  route  for  an  American  canal, 
urged  and  predicted  its  acquisition  by  the  United  States, 
and  painted  dark  pictures  of  danger  to  the  Nicaragua 
Canal  by  earthquake  if  it  were  ever  taken  over  by 
the  United  States  and  completed.  In  1902  the  American 
Canal  Commission,  changed  in  personnel,  reported  that 
if  the  French  company  would  sell  its  rights  for  $40,000,000 
Panama  would  be  a  better  route  than  Nicaragua — in 
shopping  phrase,  a  "  bargain." 

Steps  had  been  simultaneously  taken  to  secure  this 
modification  of  the  report  of  1876  and  to  prepare  the  way 
diplomatically  for  the  transfer  of  the  canal.  In  1901  the 
Hay-Pauncefote  treaty,  succeeding  to  the  Clayton-Bulwer 
treaty  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  left 
the  road  clear  for  an  all-American  canal  at  Panama,  if 
the  French  company  could  be  bought  out.  The  Hay- 
Herran  treaty,  negotiated  with  Colombia  in  January, 
1903,  would  have  permitted  the  transfer.  But  when  the 
Colombian  Congress  was  called  in  special  session  for  the 
purpose  it  failed  to  ratify  this  treaty. 

This  action  on  the  part  of  Colombia  was  possibly  un- 
wise, but  it  was  not  unpatriotic,  nor  was  refusal  due,  as 
has  sometimes  been  said,  to  the  desire  to  "blackmail" 
the  United  States.  Colombia's  financial  interest  in  the 
canal  and  railway  was  great.  By  the  contract  of  1867 
she  had  ceded  the  trans-isthmian  railway  to  the  Panama 
Railroad  Company  for  $1,000,000,  an  annuity  of  $250,000 
and  the  reversion  of  the  property  after  ninety-nine  years. 
By  the  contract  of  1878  she  had  granted  De  Lesseps  and 


THE    PANAMA    LIBEL    SUIT        265 

his  associates  a  ninety-nine-year  concession  for  the  con- 
struction of  the  Panama  Canal,  for  $250,000  a  year  from 
the  opening  of  the  canal  to  the  expiration  of  the  term, 
when  the  property  was  to  revert  to  Colombia.  Both  con- 
tracts forbade  transfer  to  any  foreign  government.  In 
case  of  infraction  of  this  fundamental  stipulation  such 
concession  was  to  become  null  and  void,  and  Colombia 
was  to  enjoy  her  right  of  re-entry  without  compensation. 
Colombia  was  also  the  largest  individual  stockholder  in 
the  new  French  company.  If  the  canal,  as  reported  by 
the  American  Commission,  was  worth  $40,000,000, 
Colombia  had  in  the  right  of  re-entry,  in  the  reversion  of 
the  whole  property  at  the  end  of  the  term,  and  in  her  stock- 
holdings something  of  value  to  sell.  And  she  was  not  un- 
reasonable in  desiring  a  price. 

Nor  would  it  have  been  courteous  to  the  greater  re- 
public to  suppose  that  a  violent  seizure  was  about  to  take 
place.  In  the  treaty  of  1848  the  United  States  had  guar- 
anteed the  sovereignty  of  Colombia  over  the  Isthmus  in 
compensation  for  freedom  of  transit  over  it  and  the 
abolition  of  the  differential  duties  then  levied;  thus  en- 
abling the  United  States  to  develop  the  Northwestern 
territories  and  California  before  railroads  were  stretched 
across  the  continent. 

This  treaty,  from  which  the  United  States  had  so  im- 
mensely benefited,  was  still  in  force  in  1903.  Neverthe- 
less, the  Panama  "revolution"  was  already  prepared 
months  before  the  Colombian  Congress  finally  adjourned 
on  October  31,  1903,  without  ratifying  the  Hay-Herran 
treaty. 

The  revolution  was  planned,  not  in  Panama,  but  in  New 
York  and  Washington.  Its  master  mind  was  William 
Nelson  Cromwell,  general  counsel  for  both  the  Panama 
Railroad  and  the  new  Panama  Canal  Company.  His 
agent  in  Panama,  Captain  James  R.  Beers,  seems  to  have 
suggested  secession  to  the  Panamanians.  Dr.  Amador  and 

18 


266  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

Senor  Arango,  respectively  the  physician  and  land-agent 
of  the  Panama  Railroad,  were  leaders  in  forming  a  secret 
junta  of  seven  members.  At  the  house  of  one  of  these, 
Senor  Arias,  the  movement  was  launched  in  the  presence 
of  Colonel  Shaler  and  Herbert  G.  Prescott,  superintend- 
ent and  assistant  superintendent  of  the  Panama  Railroad, 
and  of  some  United  States  army  officers  who  were  in- 
specting the  canal. 

On  June  13,  1903,  four  and  a  half  months  before  the 
revolution  occurred,  Mr.  Cromwell  had  a  conference  with 
President  Roosevelt  in  the  White  House.  There  was  no 
secrecy  as  to  the  subject  discussed  or  the  policy  decided 
upon;  the  next  morning,  June  14th,  The  World  published 
an  accurate  forecast  of  the  revolution,  the  recognition  of 
the  fake  republic,  and  the  making  of  the  canal  treaty  with 
Panama  exactly  as  these  events  afterward  occurred. 
Colombia  learned  of  the  plan,  not  unnaturally,  and  her 
minister  protested,  threatening  to  recommend  to  the 
Colombian  government  the  cancellation  of  both  con- 
cessions. Cromwell  disavowed  Amador  and  left  for  Paris. 
Arrived  in  his  stead  M.  Philippe  Bunau-Varilla,  a  director 
of  the  French  company.  Arrangements  were  made  with 
the  Bowling  Green  Trust  Company  to  give  the  revolu- 
tionists a  hundred  thousand  dollars;  and  Amador  re- 
turned to  Panama  carrying  the  flag  of  the  Panama  repub- 
lic, designed  by  Mme.  Bunau-Varilla,  and  a  long  cable  code, 
partly  in  his  own  writing,  in  which  " abbot"  stood  for 
"Ask  Bunau-Varilla  for  the  $4,000"  and  "sorry"  de- 
noted "Send  500  Remington  rifles  and  500,000  cartridges." 
Amador  also  wrote  to  his  son  on  October  18th,  detailing 
just  how  the  revolution  was  to  be  accomplished. 

The  plan  went  like  clock-work.  One  day  before  hos- 
tilities commenced  President  Roosevelt  issued  an  order 
forbidding  Colombian  troops  to  go  within  fifty  miles  of 
the  canal  to  fight  rebels ;  a  United  States  vessel  was  con- 
veniently at  hand;  cable  wires  were  cut  to  delay  the 


THE    PANAMA    LIBEL    SUIT        267 

transmission  of  news  to  Bogota;  forty- two  marines  were 
landed;  Colombian  officers  in  Panama  were  bought  up. 
Independence  was  declared  in  Panama  on  November  3d, 
three  days  after  the  Colombian  Congress  adjourned;  in 
seven  days  the  " Republic  of  Panama"  was  recognized; 
in  eighteen  days  the  new  nation  ceded  the  canal  zone  to 
the  United  States  for  $10,000,000;  in  two  days  more 
than  a  month  the  treaty  was  ratified.  As  Mr.  Roosevelt 
said  in  his  speech  at  the  University  of  California,  March 
23,  1911,  "I  took  the  isthmus,  started  the  canal,  and  then 
left  Congress,  not  to  debate  the  canal,  but  to  debate  me." 

The  Colombian  government  could  easily  have  put  down 
the  revolution  had  it  not  been  prevented  from  landing 
troops  in  Panama  by  President  Roosevelt's  warning,  and 
by  the  formal  notification  of  the  American  Admiral  in 
command  of  a  squadron  of  eight  war-ships,  that  the  forces 
would  not  be  permitted  to  disembark  in  any  part  of  the 
Isthmus.  Ten  thousand  men  who  had  been  ordered  to 
arms  were  thus  rendered  of  no  avail.  A  thousand  upon 
the  spot  could  have  crushed  the  rebellion.  Forty  times 
a  thousand  could  have  been  furnished  if  necessary. 

The  taking  of  the  canal,  imperfectly  understood  by  the 
general  public  at  the  time,  was  probably  accepted  by 
most  of  them  as  a  state  necessity  owing  to  Colombia's 
obstinacy  in  refusing  to  permit  a  transfer  of  the  French 
company's  rights.  The  evidence,  plain  upon  the  face 
of  events,  that  men  outside  the  original  French  bond- 
holders' group  were  interested  in  the  sale  of  the  com- 
pany and  the  made-to-order  revolution  attracted  what 
now  is  seen  to  have  been  surprisingly  little  attention. 
Even  as  late  as  August  29,  1908,  the  Democratic  National 
Committee,  giving  out  a  statement  about  wealthy  men 
as  " Guardians  of  Reform"  in  the  Republican  machine, 
barely  mentioned  William  Nelson  Cromwell  as  "the 
great  Wall  Street  lawyer,  attorney  for  the  Panama  Canal 
combine,  etc." 


268  THE    STORY    OF   A   PAGE 

It  was  Mr.  Cromwell  through  whom  the  scandal  broke. 
On  October  1,  1908,  William  J.  Curtis,  one  of  his  partners, 
complained  to  District-Attorney  Jerome  of  New  York 
that  certain  persons  were  trying  to  blackmail  Cromwell  in 
connection  with  the  Panama  affair.  Learning  of  this  the 
next  day,  The  World  sent  a  reporter  to  the  district  at- 
torney, who  refused  any  information. 

Late  that  evening  Jonas  Whitley,  employed  by  Mr. 
Cromwell  as  a  press- agent,  came  to  The  World  office  and 
warned  the  managing  editor  not  to  print  a  Panama  arti- 
cle that  was  false.  The  managing  editor  had  heard  of 
no  such  article,  and  consulted  the  city  editor,  who  told 
him  of  Curtis's  complaint.  Mr.  Whitley  had  related  its 
substance  and  had  insisted  that  if  anything  were  printed 
Mr.  Cromwell  should  be  allowed  to  make  a  statement. 
A  synopsis  of  his  account  was  dictated  to  a  stenographer, 
and  the  typewritten  copy  given  Mr.  Whitley  to  revise. 
The  news  article  with  his  corrections  was  printed  the 
following  morning,  October  3,  1908.  This  summary  of 
the  Curtis  complaint  ran  as  follows: 

In  brief,  Mr.  Curtis  told  Mr.  Jerome  it  had'been  represented 
to  Mr.  Cromwell  that  the  Democratic  National  Convention 
was  considering  the  advisability  of  making  public  a  statement 
that  William  Nelson  Cromwell,  in  connection  with  M.  Bunau- 
Varilla,  a  French  speculator,  had  formed  a  syndicate  at  the 
time  when  it  was  quite  evident  that  the  United  States  would 
take  over  the  rights  of  the  French  bond-holders  in  the  de  Lesseps 
Canal,  and  that  this  syndicate  included  among  others  Charles 
P.  Taft,  brother  of  William  H.  Taft,  and  Douglas  Robinson, 
brother-in-law  of  President  Roosevelt.  Other  men  more 
prominent  in  the  New  York  world  of  finance  were  also 
mentioned. 

According  to  the  story  unfolded  by  Mr.  Curtis,  it  was  said 
that  the  men  making  this  charge  against  Mr.  Cromwell  had 
averred  that  the  syndicate  thus  organized  in  connection  with 
Bunau-Varilla  had  gone  into  the  French  market  and  purchased 
for  about  $3,500,000  the  stock  and  bonds  of  the  defunct  de 


THE    PANAMA    LIBEL    SUIT        269 

Lesseps  company,  and  of  the  newer  concern  which  had  taken 
over  the  old  company  and  had  for  a  time  prosecuted  work  on 
the  canal. 

These  financiers  invested  their  money  because  of  a  full 
knowledge  of  the  intention  of  the  Government  to  acquire  the 
French  property  at  a  price  of  about  $40,000,000,  and  thus — 
because  of  their  alleged  information  from  high  Government 
sources — were  enabled  to  reap  a  rich  harvest. 

The  World  naturally  desired  a  statement  from  Mr. 
Cromwell.  Mr.  Whitley  telephoned  him,  and  late  that 
night  Cromwell  made  a  statement  by  telephone  to  a 
stenographer,  whose  notes  were  read  to  him  and  pro- 
nounced correct.  This  statement,  denying  improper 
dealings  by  the  persons  named  was  printed  with  the 
Curtis  complaint. 

Only  this  Curtis  complaint,  which  was  never  submitted 
to  a  grand  jury  by  District- Attorney  Jerome,  brought  the 
names  of  Charles  P.  Taft  and  Douglas  Robinson  into  dis- 
cussion. Mr.  Taft  denied  any  connection  with  the 
Panama  syndicate,  and  his  denial  was  at  once  accepted 
by  The  World  as  conclusive.  Mr.  Robinson  refused  to 
make  any  statement.  Like  Mr.  Taft,  he  owed  his  ap- 
pearance in  the  news  article  solely  to  Mr.  Cromwell  and 
Mr.  Cromwell's  press-agent. 

The  Panama  mystery  was  discussed  in  a  desultory  way 
during  the  campaign,  but  it  was  not  regarded  as  an  issue. 
Mr.  Roosevelt,  who  was  managing  Mr.  Taft's  campaign 
from  the  White  House,  paid  no  attention  to  the  articles. 

On  November  2d,  the  day  before  election,  however, 
The  Indianapolis  Newsy  the  leading  paper  in  Indiana, 
which  had  refused  to  support  the  Republican  national 
and  state  tickets,  printed  an  editorial  asking  who  got 
the  $40,000,000  the  United  States  had  paid.  Morally, 
the  election  in  Indiana  was  a  Republican  defeat,  for, 
although  Mr.  Taft  carried  the  state  by  10,731,  a  Demo- 
cratic Governor  and  Legislature  were  elected,  a  Democrat 


270  THE    STORY    OF   A    PAGE 

was  sent  to  the  Senate  in  place  of  Mr.  Hemenway,  and 
only  three  Republican  Representatives  were  elected  out 
of  thirteen.  Mr.  Roosevelt  and  his  friends  attributed 
the  result  largely  to  The  Indianapolis  News. 

William  Dudley  Foulke  sent  to  the  President  on 
November  9th  the  Panama  editorial  from  The  Indianapolis 
News  and  suggested  that  "if  the  statements  of  The  News 
are  true  our  people  ought  to  know  it;  if  not  true,  they 
ought  to  have  some  just  means  of  estimating  what  credit 
should  be  given  in  other  matters  to  a  journal  which 
disseminates  falsehoods.7'  Mr.  Foulke Js  curiosity  was 
shared  by  many  citizens;  its  expression  brought  forth  on 
December  1st  a  reply  from  Mr.  Roosevelt,  made  public 
December  7th. 

In  this  the  President  denied  many  statements  referred 
to  in  Mr.  Foulke's  letter  and  said  of  the  editor  of  The 
Indianapolis  News,  "Mr.  Delavan  Smith  is  a  conspicuous 
offender  against  the  laws  of  honesty  and  truthfulness." 
Dealing  with  the  purchase  of  the  Canal,  he  asserted  that 
the  United  States  "paid  $40,000,000  direct  to  the  French 
Government,  getting  the  receipt  of  the  liquidator  appoint- 
ed by  the  French  Government  to  receive  the  same";  that 
"the  United  States  Government  has  not  the  slightest 
knowledge  as  to  the  particular  individuals  among  whom 
the  French  Government  distributed  the  siim";  that  "this 
was  the  business  of  the  French  Government";  that  "so 
far  as  I  know  there  was  no  syndicate";  that  "there 
certainly  was  no  syndicate  in  the  United  States  that  to 
my  knowledge  had  any  dealings  with  the  Government, 
directly  or  indirectly";  that  "the  people  have  had  the 
most  minute  official  knowledge  "of  the  Panama  affair;  that 
"every  import  ant  step  and  every  important  document  have 
been  made  public,"  and  that  the  "  abominable  falsehood  " 
that  any  American  citizen  had  profited  from  the  sale  of 
the  Panama  Canal  "is  a  slander  not  against  the  American 
government,  but  against  the  French  government." 


THE    PANAMA    LIBEL    SUIT        271 

We  now  come  to  the  real  beginning  of  the  Panama 
libel  suit  unsuccessfully  waged  against  two  newspapers 
in  the  name  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States. 

The  World  had  not  previously  discussed  the  Panama 
matter  editorially.  But  when  Mr.  Roosevelt  said  that 
the  United  States  Government  "paid  the  $40,000,000 
direct  to  the  French  Government,"  it  decided  that  the 
time  had  come  when  the  country  was  entitled  to  the 
truth,  and  it  challenged  Mr.  Roosevelt  upon  the  official 
records  and  demanded  a  Congressional  investigation. 
In  this  history-making  editorial  The  World  accused  the 
President  of  "deliberate  misstatements  of  fact  in  his 
scandalous  personal  attack  upon  Mr.  Delavan  Smith." 
The  article  continued: 

The  Indiananapolis  News  said,  in  an  editorial  for  which  Mr. 
Roosevelt  assails  Mr.  Smith: 

"It  has  been  charged  that  the  United  States  bought  from 
American  citizens  for  $40,000,000  property  that  cost  those 
citizens  only  $12,000,000.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  govern- 
ment paid  $40,000,000  for  the  property.  But  who  got  the 
money?" 

President  Roosevelt's  reply  to  this  most  proper  question  is 
for  the  most  part  a  string  of  abusive  and  defamatory  epithets. 
But  he  also  makes  the  following  statements  as  truthful  informa- 
tion to  the  American  people: 

"The  United  States  did  not  pay  a  cent  of  the  $40,000,000  to 
any  American  citizen. 

"The  Government  paid  this  $40,000,000  direct  to  the  French 
Government,  getting  the  receipt  of  the  liquidator  appointed  by 
the  French  Government  to  receive  the  same. 

"The  United  States  Government  has  not  the  slightest  knowl- 
edge as  to  the  particular  individuals  among  whom  the  French 
Government  distributed  the  same. 

"So  far  as  I  know,  there  was  no  syndicate;  there  certainly 
was  no  syndicate  in  the  United  States  that  to  my  knowledge 
had  any  dealings  with  the  Government  directly  or  indirectly." 

To  the  best  of  The  World's  knowledge  and  belief,  each  and 


272  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

all  of  these  statements  made  by  Mr.  Roosevelt,  and  quoted 
above,  are  untrue,  and  Mr.  Roosevelt  must  have  known  they 
were  untrue  when  he  made  them. 

Only  one  man,  William  Nelson  Cromwell,  knew  the 
whole  story  of  the  transaction.  President  Roosevelt  and 
Secretary  Root  aided  Mr.  Cromwell  in  consummating 
the  Panama  revolution  and  arranging  the  payments  for 
the  old  canal — "  $40,000,000  for  the  canal  properties  and 
an  additional  $10,000,000  for  a  manufactured  Panama 
republic,  every  penny  of  both  of  which  sums  was  paid  by 
check  on  the  United  States  Treasury  to  J.  P.  Morgan  & 
Co. — not  to  the  French  Government,  as  Mr.  Roosevelt 
says,  but  to  J.  P.  Morgan  &  Co."  The  history  of  the 
case  is  then  resumed: 

The  old  French  company  organized  by  Ferdinand  de  Lesseps 
in  1879  failed  in  1889,  years  before  Mr.  Cromwell's  relations 
with  President  Roosevelt  began.  As  Mr.  Cromwell  testified 
before  the  Senate  committee  on  February  26,  1906,  "we  never 
had  any  connection  with  the  so-called  de  Lesseps  company. 
Neither  did  the  United  States  Government  conduct  negotiations 
with  the  old  French  Panama  Canal  Company." 

What  Mr.  Cromwell  did  represent  was  the  new  Panama 
Canal  Company,  the  American  Panama  Canal  Company  and 
the  $5,000,000  syndicate  which  he  formed  to  finance  the  new 
companies.  After  Mr.  Cromwell  had  testified  "I  do  not  recall 
any  contract,"  Senator  Morgan  produced  a  contract  reading 
(Panama  Canal  Hearing,  Vol.  II,  page  146) : 

"Mr.  William  Nelson  Cromwell  is  exclusively  empowered, 
under  the  formal  agreement  with  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the 
Compagnie  Nouvelle  du  Canal  de  Panama  of  France,  to  effect 
with  an  American  syndicate  the  Americanization  of  the  Panama 
Canal  Company  on  the  following  basis." 

Senator  Morgan  unearthed  a  copy  of  the  $5,000,000  syndicate 
agreement,  which  provided  that  the  subscribers  should  contract 
with  William  Nelson  Cromwell  to  pay  in  $5,000,000  in  cash 
and  to  take  their  several  allotments  in  the  enterprise, 


THE    PANAMA    LIBEL    SUIT        273 

Five  million  dollars  was  more  than  ample  to  buy  the  majority 
of  the  old  Panama  stock.  .  .  . 

Following  that,  to  quote  from  Mr.  Cromwell's  testimony, 
"in  May,  1904,  I,  representing  the  new  Panama  Canal,  and 
Judges  Day  and  Russell,  representing  Attorney-General  Knox, 
consummated"  the  transfer  and  sale  to  the  United  States. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  says  "the  Government  paid  this  $40,000,000 
direct  to  the  French  Government." 

Mr.  Cromwell  testified  that  the  United  States  paid  the 
money  to  J.  P.  Morgan  &  Co. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  says  "the  French  Government ,  distributed 
the  sum." 

Mr.  Cromwell  testified  as  to  how  he  distributed  it. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  talks  of  "getting  the  receipt  of  the  liqui- 
dator appointed  by  the  French  Government  to  receive  the 
same." 

Mr.  Cromwell  testified:  "Of  the  $40,000,000  thus  paid  by 
the  United  States  Government  $25,000,000  was  paid  to  the 
liquidator  of  the  old  Panama  Canal  Company  under  and  in 
pursuance  of  an  agreement  entered  into  between  the  liquidator 
and  the  new  company.  ...  Of  the  balance  of  $15,000,000  paid 
to  the  new  Panama  Canal  Company,  $12,000,000  have  already 
been  distributed  among  its  stockholders,  and  the  remainder 
is  now  being  held  awaiting  final  distribution  and  payment." 

As  to  Mr.  Roosevelt's  statement  that  "there  was  no  syn- 
dicate," he  could  have  read  the  "syndicate  subscription 
agreement"  on  page  1150,  Vol.  II,  of  the  testimony  before  the 
Committee  on  Interoceanic  Canals — if  he  had  cared  for  the 
truth. 

That  the  United  States  was  not  dealing  with  "the 
French  Government"  or  the  " liquidator  appointed  by  the 
French  Government"  or  any  one  save  Cromwell  and  his 
associates  was  made  clear  by  the  account  of  Gabriel 
Duque.  Sefior  Duque  said  that  Cromwell  offered  him 
the  Presidency  of  the  Panama  republic,  and  told  him  that 
he  might  rely  upon  the  help  of  the  United  States.  "We 
bought  this  general  and  that  one,"  said  Duque,  "paying 
three  to  four  thousand  dollars  per  general,"  Accord- 


274  THE    STORY    OF    A   PAGE 

ing  to  Duque,  "Mr.  Cromwell  made  the  revolution." 
Then  .  .  . 

Mr.  Cromwell,  having  been  elected  by  the  Panama  Republic 
as  general  counsel,  and  he  and  J.  Pierpont  Morgan  having 
been  appointed  a  "  fiscal  commission/'  negotiated  with  President 
Roosevelt,  by  which  the  United  States  paid  $10,000,000  more 
to  "the  fiscal  commission"  for  Mr.  CromwelPs  Panama  Repub- 
lic. Of  this  money  three-quarters  is  still  under  the  control 
of  "the  fiscal  commission." 

Why  did  the  United  States  pay  $40,000,000  for  a  bankrupt 
property  whose  control  could  undoubtedly  have  been  bought  in 
the  open  market  for  less  than  $4,000,000? 

Who  were  the  new  Panama  Canal  Company? 

Who  bought  up  the  obligations  of  the  old  Panama  Canal 
Company  for  a  few  cents  on  the  dollar?  .  .  . 

Whether  all  the  profits  went  into  William  Nelson  Crom- 
well's hands  or  whatever  became  of  them,  the  fact  that  Theodore 
Roosevelt  as  President  of  the  United  States  issues  a  public 
statement  about  such  an  important  matter  full  of  flagrant 
untruths,  reeking  with  misstatements,  challenging  line  by 
line  the  testimony  of  his  associate  Cromwell  and  the  official 
record,  makes  it  imperative  that  full  publicity  come  at  once 
through  the  authority  and  by  the  action  of  Congress. 

The  election  was  over.  More  than  two  months  had 
elapsed  since  the  publication  of  Mr.  Cromwell's  com- 
plaint to  the  New  York  district  attorney.  No  man  men- 
tioned in  any  article  had  appealed  to  the  courts,  which 
were  open  to  punish  libel. 

The  moving  cause  of  the  extraordinary  action  that  fol- 
lowed was  not  the  "libel  upon  the  United  States  government" 
of  October  3d,  as  alleged  by  President  Roosevelt.  The 
government  had  not  been  libeled.  The  cause  was  that  the 
President  himself  had  been  pilloried  on  December  8th  as  a 
publisher  of  falsehood. 

December  15th  President  Roosevelt  sent  to  Congress  a 
long  special  message  upon  Panama  containing  the  state- 


THE    PANAMA    LIBEL    SUIT        275 

ment  that  the  $40,000,000  in  payment  for  canal  rights  was 
distributed  in  Paris  to  the  owners  of  the  new  and  old 
Panama  companies.  That  Mr.  Roosevelt's  powers  of 
invective  were  in  working  order  is  indicated  in  these 
passages : 

These  stories  were  first  brought  to  my  attention  as  published  in  a 
paper  in  Indianapolis,  called  the  News,  edited  by  Mr.  Delavan  Smith. 
The  stories  were  scurrilous  and  libelous  in  character  and  false  in 
every  essential  particular.  Mr.  Smith  shelters  himself  behind  the 
excuse  that  he  merely  accepted  the  statements  which  had  appeared 
in  a  paper  published  in  New  York,  The  World,  owned  by  Mr.  Joseph 
Pulitzer.  It  is  idle  to  say  that  the  known  character  of  Mr.  Pulitzer 
and  his  newspaper  are  such  that  the  statements  in  that  paper  will  be 
believed  by  nobody;  unfortunately,  thousands  of  persons  are  ill 
informed  in  this  respect  and  believe  the  statements  they  see  in 
print,  even  though  they  appear  in  a  newspaper  published  by  Mr. 
Pulitzer.  .  .  . 

Now,  these  stories,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  need  no  investigation  what- 
ever. ...  In  form,  they  are  in  part  libels  upon  individuals,  upon 
Mr.  Taft  and  Mr.  Robinson,  for  instance.  But  they  are  in  fact  wholly, 
and  in  form  partly,  a  libel  upon  the  United  States  Government.  .  .  . 

The  real  offender  is  Mr.  Joseph  Pulitzer,  editor  and  proprietor  of 
TJie  World.  While  the  criminal  offense  of  which  Mr.  Pulitzer  has 
been  guilty  is  in  form  a  libel  upon  individuals,  the  great  injury  done 
is  in  blackening  the  good  name  of  the  American  people.  It  should 
not  be  left  to  a  private  citizen  to  sue  Mr.  Pulitzer  for  libel.  He  should 
be  prosecuted  for  libel  by  the  Government  authorities.  .  .  .  The 
Attorney-General  has  under  consideration  the  form  in  which  the 
proceedings  against  Mr.  Pulitzer  shall  be  brought.  .  .  . 

Attorney-General  Bonaparte's  proceedings  took  the 
form  of  indictments  procured  from  a  District  of  Columbia 
Federal  Grand  Jury  charging  The  World,  Mr.  Pulitzer,  and 
certain  of  The  World's  editors,  and  The  Indianapolis  News 
and  its  editors,  with  criminal  libel  in  articles  circulated 
in  the  District  of  Columbia,  libeling  the  United  States 
Government  and  also  Elihu  Root,  William  Nelson  Crom- 
well, Charles  P.  Taft,  Douglas  Robinson,  ex-President 
Roosevelt,  and  President  Taft.  These  indictments  were 
found  upon  a  section  of  the  District  of  Columbia  code 


276  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

based  upon  the  English  law  of  1662  enacted  in  the  tyran- 
nous time  of  Charles  I.  for  the  muzzling  of  the  press. 

President  Taft,  who  succeeded  on  March  4,  1909,  to 
Mr.  Roosevelt,  properly  made  no  effort  to  halt  proceedings 
with  whose  inception  he  had  nothing  to  do.  Early  in  the 
Taft  administration  Joseph  B.  Kealing,  United  States 
District  Attorney  in  Indianapolis,  resigned  his  post,  which 
he  had  held  almost  eight  years,  rather  than  be  a  party  to 
the  suit.  In  his  letter  to  Attorney-General  Bonaparte 
Mr.  Kealing  said: 

As  to  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  the  defendants  on  the  question  of 
libel  I  do  not  attempt  to  say.  If  guilty,  they  should  be  prosecuted; 
but  properly  indicted  and  prosecuted,  in  the  right  place — viz.,  in  their 
homes.  It  is  only  with  the  question  of  removal  that  I  have  to  do. 
I  am  not  in  accord  with  the  Government  in  its  attempt  to  put  a  strained 
construction  on  the  law,  to  drag  the  defendants  from  their  homes  to 
the  seat  of  the  Government,  to  be  tried  and  punished,  while  there  is 
a  good  and  sufficient  law  in  this  jurisdiction  in  the  State  court. 

I  believe  the  principle  involved  is  dangerous,  striking  at  the  very 
foundation  of  our  form  of  Government.  I  cannot,  therefore,  honestly 
and  conscientiously  insist  to  the  court  that  such  is  the  law,  or  that 
such  construction  should  be  put  on  it.  Not  being  able  to  do  this, 
I  do  not  feel  that  I  can,  in  justice  to  my  office,  continue  to  hold  it  and 
decline  to  assist. 

Preparations  for  the  issue  were  unceasing  up  to  October 
llth,  when  the  Indianapolis  case  was  taken  before  Federal 
Judge  Anderson,  who  dismissed  it  the  following  day.  In 
his  opinion  Judge  Anderson  did  more  than  decide  a 
technical  point,  as  these  extracts  will  show: 

It  is  the  duty  of  a  public  newspaper,  such  as  is  owned  and  conducted 
by  these  defendants  to  tell  the  people,  its  subscribers,  the  facts  that 
it  may  find  out  about  public  questions  or  matters  of  public  interest. 
It  is  its  duty  and  its  right  to  draw  inferences  from  the  facts  known, 
to  draw  them  for  the  people.  .  .  . 

So  far  as  the  record  has  been  read — and  that  is  all  the  part  that  I 
have  an  acquaintance  with — Mr.  Cromwell  stood  upon  his  privilege 
whenever  questions  were  asked  [by  the  Morgan  Senate  Committee 
investigating  the  Panama  matter],  the  answer  to  which  would  or 


THE    PANAMA    LIBEL    SUIT        277 

might  reflect  upon  him  and  his  associates,  but  whenever  a  question 
was  asked  which  gave  him  an  opportunity  to  say  something  in  their 
behalf  he  ostentatiously  thanked  the  examiner  for  the  question  and 
proceeded  to  answer  it.  To  my  mind  that  gave  just  ground  for  suspi- 
cion. I  am  suspicious  about  it  now. 

There  are  many  very  peculiar  circumstances  about  the  history  of 
this  Panama  Canal,  or  this  Panama  Canal  business.  .  .  .  Now,  there 
were  a  number  of  people  who  thought  there  was  something  not  just 
exactly  right  about  that  transaction,  and  I  will  say  for  myself  that  now 
I  feel  a  natural  curiosity  to  know  what  the  real  truth  was.  .  .  . 

Here  was  a  matter  of  great  public  interest,  of  public  concern.  I 
was  interested  in  it;  you  were  interested  in  it;  we  were  all  interested 
in  it.  Here  was  a  newspaper  printing  the  news,  or  trying  to.  Here 
was  a  matter  up  for  discussion,  and  I  cannot  say  now,  I  am  not  willing 
to  say,  that  the  inferences  are  too  strongly  drawn.  .  .  . 

To  my  mind,  that  man  has  read  the  history  of  our  institutions  to 
very  little  purpose  who  does  not  look  with  very  grave  apprehension 
upon  the  success  of  a  proceeding  such  as  this — if  the  history  of  liberty 
means  anything,  if  the  constitutional  guarantees  mean  anything — if 
the  prosecuting  authorities  should  have  the  power  to  select  a  tribunal, 
if  there  be  more  than  one  tribunal  to  select  from,  at  the  capital  of 
the  United  States;  that  the  Government  should  have  that  power  and 
drag  citizens  of  distant  States  there  to  be  tried. 

The  defendants  will  be  discharged. 

No  action  was  taken  by  the  Government  to  remove 
Mr.  Pulitzer  and  The  World's  news  editors  to  the  District 
of  Columbia;  but  another  attempt  was  made  to  stretch 
the  law  to  permit  the  prosecution  of  The  World  in  the 
Federal  Courts  without  raising  the  question  of  removal. 

Under  instructions  from  President  Roosevelt  United 
States  Attorney  Henry  L.  Stimson  had  also  obtained  indict- 
ments for  criminal  libel  from  the  Federal  Grand  Jury  in 
New  York  against  The  World  and  an  editor,  charging  the 
circulation  of  twenty-nine  copies  of  the  issues  complained 
of  within  "the  fort  and  military  post  and  reservation  of 
West  Point"  and  within  "the  tract  of  land"  whereon 
stands  "a  needful  building  used  by  the  United  States  as 
a  post-office." 

This  indictment,  couched  almost  in  the  language  of  the 


278  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

Sedition  Act,  charged  that  it  was  the  purpose  of  The 
World  "to  stir  up  disorder  among  the  people."  The 
Sedition  Act  reads,  "to  stir  up  sedition  among  the 
people." 

The  law  on  which  the  government  relied  for  this 
prosecution  was  that  of  July  7,  1898,  entitled  "An  Act  to 
Protect  the  Harbor  Defenses  and  Fortifications  Con- 
structed or  Used  by  the  United  States  from  Malicious 
Injury,  and  for  Other  Purposes."  It  was  founded  on  an 
act  of  March  3,  1825.  It  had  never  before  been  invoked 
by  the  federal  authorities  as  giving  them  the  right  to 
punish  libel. 

It  was  asserted  by  United  States  Attorney  Stimson  in  a 
letter  to  District- Attorney  Jerome  of  New  York  that: 

These  publications  .  .  .  appear  to  have  been  circulated  by 
the  newspaper  in  question  in  a  number  of  distinct  and  indepen- 
dent jurisdictions.  ...  In  each  of  these  jurisdictions,  under  well- 
known  principles  of  law,  each  of  these  publications  would  constitute 
a  separate  offense. 

As  there  were  2,809  government  reservations  corre- 
sponding to  West  Point  and  the  Post-office  building,  a 
newspaper  might  under  this  theory  of  law  be  prosecuted 
from  one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other  for  an  article 
that  was  neither  written  nor  printed  on  any  of  these 
reservations. 

At  the  suggestion  of  counsel  for  The  World  court  orders 
for  the  examination  of  witnesses  were  addressed  through 
diplomatic  channels  to  the  judicial  authorities  of  the 
French  and  Panama  governments.  It  was  necessary  for 
The  World  to  pay  the  expenses  of  United  States  Attorney 
Wise  and  Deputy  Attorney-General  Stuart  MacNamara 
to  Paris,  and  of  Mr.  Knapp,  of  the  United  States  Attorney's 
office,  to  Panama,  as  the  government  refused  to  assume 
any  part  of  the  cost. 

The  State  Department  notified  De  Lancey  Nicoll,  of 


THE    PANAMA    LIBEL    SUIT        279 

The  World's  counsel,  that  the  American  Ambassador  to 
France  would  assist  Coudert  Brothers,  The  World's 
counsel  in  Paris,  in  obtaining  the  authorization  of  the 
Minister  of  Justice  for  the  examination  of  witnesses. 
But  there  was  difficulty  in  getting  at  the  records,  and  the 
attempt  failed.  The  World,  however,  collected  much 
evidence  in  Paris  and  in  Panama.  A  staff  correspondent 
was  sent  to  Bogota,  and  by  the  courtesy  of  the  Colombian 
government  secured  certified  copies  of  records  and  other 
documentary  evidence. 

When  the  case  came  up  for  trial  in  the  United  States 
Circuit  Court  in  New  York  City  on  January  25,  1910, 
before  Judge  Charles  M.  Hough,  The  World  was  prepared 
to  sustain  the  defense  of  justification.  But  the  form  in 
which  the  prosecution  was  brought  forced  responsibilities 
which  could  not  be  disregarded.  The  World  could  not  go 
to  trial  upon  the  merits  of  the  case  without  conceding  the 
existence  of  a  federal  libel  law  and  placing  the  press  of 
the  country  at  the  mercy  of  the  President.  Not  merely 
in  its  own  interest,  but  to  safeguard  the  free  discussion 
of  national  questions,  it  felt  obliged  to  resist  every  pre- 
tense of  the  federal  authorities  that  they  had  a  co-ordinate 
jurisdiction  with  state  authorities  in  prosecuting  libel. 

Argument  was  therefore  directed  upon  jurisdiction. 
Distinguished  counsel  were  engaged:  Henry  A.  Wise, 
Stuart  McNamara,  and  James  R.  Knapp  for  the  govern- 
ment; De  Lancey  Nicoll,  John  D.  Lindsay,  and  Thomas 
Steven  Fuller.  After  hearing  testimony  and  the  sum- 
ming up  of  counsel  Judge  Hough  announced  a  decision 
which  invited  an  appeal  to  higher  authority.  The  dis- 
position of  the  case  is  indicated  by  the  record: 

JUDGE  HOUGH:  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  the  construction  of  this 
Act  claimed  by  the  prosecution  is  opposed  to  the  spirit  and  tenor 
of  legislation  for  many  years  on  the  subject  of  national  territorial 
jurisdiction.  It  is  a  novelty,  and  the  burden  of  upholding  a  novelty 
is  on  him  who  alleges  it.  ...  This  very  interesting  question  can 


280  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

be  lawfully  presented  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States, 
and  I  am  sure  that  the  judgment  of  that  Court  should  be  obtained 
before  either  the  time  of  this  Court  or  the  time  of  jurors  be  occupied 
in  going  into  a  matter  which  could  not,  in  my  judgment,  if  exploited 
with  a  question  of  law  of  this  kind  hanging  over  it,  be  determined 
with  any  profit  to  the  public,  or  any  benefit  to  the  administration  of 
justice. 

It  is,  therefore,  ordered  that  a  judgment  of  this  Court  be  entered 
quashing  the  indictment  herein,  because  upon  the  construction  of 
the  statute,  hereinbefore  stated,  the  indictment  is  not  authorized  by 
the  statute  upon  which  it  rests. 

MR.  WISE:  Before  that  is  done,  I  ask  that  a  juror  be  withdrawn, 
in  order  that  no  question  of  jeopardy  may  enter  into  the  case. 

THE  COURT:    Motion  granted. 

President  Taft  was  a  skilled  lawyer  and  had  been  a 
judge.  Doubtless  he  had  little  liking  for  the  prosecution 
begun  by  Mr.  Roosevelt  and  would  gladly  have  seen  it 
drop  with  defeat  before  Judge  Anderson  and  Judge 
Hough.  The  World  was  not  satisfied  with  any  decision 
short  of  the  highest  tribunal;  and  in  a  series  of  articles  it 
demanded  an  appeal  by  the  government  to  the  Supreme 
Court.  The  initiative  was  with  the  government,  in 
form;  in  fact  it  rested  with  the  paper  which  prodded  the 
government.  Yielding  finally  to  the  demand  for  a  con- 
clusive settlement  the  Department  of  Justice  took  an 
appeal,  and  on  January  3,  1911,  the  Supreme  Court 
handed  down  an  opinion  sustaining  Judge  Hough  in 
quashing  the  indictment,  on  the  ground  that  the  federal 
government  had  no  jurisdiction. 

The  Supreme  Court  did  not  discuss  the  point  at  issue — 
"Who  got  the  money?'7 — which  had  so  interested  Judge 
Anderson.  Like  Judge  Hough,  it  followed  the  question 
of  jurisdiction,  of  reasonable  inference  as  to  the  intent  of 
Congress  in  passing  the  laws  appealed  to.  There  was  no 
rebuke  of  a  co-ordinate  department  of  the  government 
which  had  grasped  at  tyrannous  power.  But  the  decision 
was  unanimous. 

At  the  Columbia  Club  in  Indianapolis  shortly  before 


THE    PANAMA    LIBEL    SUIT        281 

the  1910  election  President  Roosevelt  had  enlivened  a 
social  occasion  by  calling  Judge  Anderson  a  "  jackass  and 
a  crook"  for  his  decision  in  The  Indianapolis  News  case. 
He  did  not  now  denounce  all  the  members  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  but  their  decision  may  have  added  emphasis  to 
his  later  statement  that  our  courts  are  "fossilized." 

The  World  on  January  4,  1911,  thus  summed  up  its 
victory: 

The  unanimous  decision  handed  down  by  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court  yesterday  in  the  Roosevelt-Panama  libel  case 
against  The  World  is  the  most  sweeping  victory  won  for  freedom 
of  speech  and  of  the  press  in  this  country  since  the  American 
people  destroyed  the  Federalist  party  more  than  a  century 
ago  for  enacting  the  infamous  Sedition  law. 

In  unanimously  sustaining  Judge  Hough's  decision  quashing 
the  Roosevelt  indictments  against  The  World  on  the  ground 
that  the  Federal  Government  had  no  jurisdiction,  the  Supreme 
Court  upholds  every  contention  advanced  by  The  World  since 
the  outset  of  this  prosecution.  .  .  . 

Federal  jurisdiction  was  claimed  by  Mr.  Roosevelt  and 
Attorney-General  Bonaparte  under  the  pretext  that  the  regular 
circulation  at  West  Point  of  twenty-nine  copies  out  of  382,410 
of  The  World  containing  certain  Panama  news  articles,  and  the 
sending  of  one  copy  free  to  a  Post-Office  inspector  in  the  Govern- 
ment Building  in  New  York  City  in  compliance  with  the  postal 
regulations,  constituted  the  publication  of  a  libel  in  these 
reservations,  and  that  under  this  statute  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment could  criminally  prosecute  The  World. 

There  were  few  newspapers,  the  argument  continues, 
that  could  not  be  ruined  by  the  government  by  the  mere 
legal  expense  of  having  to  defend  itself  in  a  "  number  of 
distinct  and  independent  jurisdictions"  under  District 
Attorney  Stimson's  interpretation  of  the  law.  In  carrying 
the  case  to  the  court  of  last  resort  President  Taf t  and  Mr. 
Wickersham  had  rendered  a  notable  service  to  American 
liberty.  The  article  concludes: 

19 


282  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

The  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  is  so  sweeping  that  no 
other  President  will  be  tempted  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of 
Theodore  Roosevelt,  no  matter  how  greedy  he  may  be  for 
power,  no  matter  how  resentful  of  opposition.  .  .  . 

As  De  Lancey  Nicoll,  The  World's  counsel,  said  in  his  argu- 
ment before  the  Supreme  Court: 

"As  a  matter  of  fact  this  prosecution  is  premature.  It  is 
born  before  its  time.  It  belongs  to  that  new  dispensation  when 
the  Federal  Government  shall  have  taken  to  itself  all  power 
and  all  authority,  when  the  States  shall  have  been  reduced  to 
mere  geographical  divisions  of  the  national  domain,  and  when 
Federal  tribunals  shall  no  longer  decide  cases  in  accordance 
with  precedent  and  authority  and  the  law  of  the  land,  but  in 
accordance  with  the  need  and  spirit  of  the  time  as  they  may  be 
interpreted  by  some  great  steward  of  the  public  welfare." 

It  was  indeed  premature.  With  the  smashing  of  the  New 
Nationalism  at  the  November  elections  comes  the  smashing  of 
the  Roosevelt  doctrine  of  lese-majesty  and  the  smashing  of  the 
Roosevelt  doctrine  of  Nullification  by  the  highest  tribunal  of 
the  Nation.  We  are  still  living  under  a  government  of  laws 
and  not  of  men.  We  are  still  living  under  the  old  Constitution 
as  interpreted  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  not 
under  the  New  Nationalism  as  interpreted  by  some  "steward 
of  the  public  welfare"  in  Washington. 

While  the  Panama  case  was  still  pending  in  the  courts 
a  curious  side-light  was  thrown  upon  it  by  the  publication 
in  The  World,  October  17,  1910,  of  a  photographed  fac- 
simile of  the  account  of  Kuhn,  Loeb  &  Co.  with  the  late 
E.  H.  Harriman,  covering  a  series  of  transactions  in 
Panama  shares.  This  account  was  opened  in  January, 
1902,  the  month  and  the  year  when  President  Roosevelt 
instructed  the  Isthmian  Canal  Commission,  in  effect,  to 
reverse  its  report  recommending  the  Nicaraguan  route, 
and  to  favor  Panama  instead.  At  the  very  time,  there- 
fore, when  Mr.  Harriman  was  called  to  the  White  House 
by  President  Roosevelt  in  October,  1904,  and  went  back 
to  Wall  Street  to  raise  $260,000  for  the  Republican  cam- 


THE    PANAMA    LIBEL    SUIT        283 

paign  fund  he  was  carrying  a  speculative  account  in  Pana- 
ma shares.  The  account  showed  a  profit  of  $86,447.38 
upon  total  investments  of  $253,060.47. 

The  " taking"  of  the  Panama  zone  by  Mr.  Roosevelt, 
though  it  hastened  the  digging  of  the  canal,  intensified 
distrust  of  the  United  States  throughout  Latin  America. 
It  immeasurably  harmed  American  relations  with  these 
countries,  whose  development  is  so  interesting  a  political 
and  commercial  study.  Colombia  had  a  just  claim  upon 
the  United  States.  The  World  had  opposed  the  payment 
of  $10,000,000  to  the  made-to-order  republic  of  Panama, 
but  favored  some  friendly  arrangement  with  Colombia 
which  should  admit  and  mend  her  grievance  by  such 
reparation  as  agreement  or  arbitration  might  decide. 

The  slate  is  clean  for  such  accommodation.  Colombia's 
early  protests  against  the  taking  of  the  canal  were  ig- 
nored. In  1906  Secretary  Root  stated  to  Senor  Don 
Diego  Mendoza,  then  Colombian  Minister  in  Washing- 
ton, that  the  United  States  had  followed  its  sense  of  right 
and  justice  in  espousing  the  cause  of  a  weak  people,  the 
Panamanians,  against  the  stronger  government  of  Colom- 
bia. Senor  Mendoza  in  reply  specified  grounds  for  asking 
arbitration,  but  his  request  was  ignored.  His  successor, 
Minister  Cortez,  signed  the  Root-Cortez-Arosemena 
treaties,  which  were  rejected  by  the  Colombian  Senate. 
So  unpopular  were  they  that  on  his  return  home  Senor 
Cortez  was  driven  back  on  board  ship  by  infuriated 
Colombians.  After  Colonel  Roosevelt's  statement  on 
March  23,  1911,  that  he  took  the  Canal  Zone,  a  new 
minister,  Dr.  Borda,  filed  a  new  protest;  so  did  his  suc- 
cessor, General  Ospina,  equally  without  avail. 

Following  General  Ospina's  letter,  pointing  out  that 
Secretary  Knox's  proposed  visit  to  Colombia  in  February, 
1912,  might  be  inopportune  if  his  country's  claims  re- 
mained unconsidered,  Colombia  sent  Senor  Don  Julio 
Betancourt  to  Washington,  and  by  prolonged  negotiations 


284  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

through  him  and  through  the  American  Minister  to 
Colombia,  James  T.  Du  Bois,  the  latter  was  authorized 
to  offer  Colombia  $10,000,000  in  cash,  special  privileges 
in  the  canal,  and  the  arbitration  of  reversionary  rights  in 
the  Panama  Railroad.  Mr.  Du  Bois  intimated  unofficially 
that  the  money  payment  might  be  raised  to  $25,000,000. 
These  offers  were  rejected,  Colombia  requiring  instead 
that  all  differences  relating  to  the  acquisition  of  the  Canal 
Zone  be  submitted  to  arbitration,  or  that  the  United 
States  should  make  a  direct  proposal  of  both  moral  and 
material  reparation  to  Colombia. 

At  the  tune  of  writing,  therefore,  there  remains  no  pro- 
posal pending  between  the  two  countries  which  should 
hamper  a  new  attempt  at  settlement.  Diplomacy  has 
apparently  exhausted  its  resources  for  directly  dealing 
between  the  two  nations.  The  case  has  seemed  to  The 
World  eminently  one  for  arbitration. 

And,  since  the  operation  of  the  canal  will  chiefly  benefit 
the  great  Republic,  The  World  not  only  opposed  the  action 
of  Congress  in  exempting  American  coastwise  traffic  from 
canal  tolls  in  defiance  of  treaty  obligations  with  Great 
Britain,  but  it  has  urged  that  the  new  way  be  made 
toll-free  to  all  the  nations  of  the  world. 


XX 

PUBLIC   SERVICE 

1883-1913 

"The  World's"  Long  Fight  for  the  Income  Tax— " Reversing  the  Court"  as 
to  the  Gas  Trust — Working-men's  Acts — The  Japanese  War — The  Found- 
ing of  the  School  of  Journalism — Opposing  the  Catskill  Water  Folly — 
"The  World"  and  the  Courts — Opposition  to  the  Recall  of  Judges  and  of 
Judicial  Decisions — The  Initiative  and  Referendum. 

"THE  WORLD'S"  Platform  of  Public  Service  has  been 
printed  in  an  earlier  chapter.  Much  water  has  flowed 
under  bridges  since  May  17, 1883.  How  has  the  Platform 
fared? 

Reform  of  the  civil  service  has  been  furthered  by  the 
examination  system  in  the  federal  departments  and  in 
those  of  most  states  and  cities. 

Vote-buying  and  the  coercion  of  employees  are  less 
prevalent  since  the  passage  of  secret-ballot  laws. 

A  tariff  for  revenue  has  been  vetoed  by  government 
extravagance.  All  that  reformers  now  expect  is  a  tariff 
lowered  to  moderate  height. 

The  income  tax  has  been  the  bone  of  hot  contention. 
In  the  months  following  Mr.  Pulitzer's  purchase  of  The 
World  he  called  it  "the  fairest  and  most  democratic  tax  a 
government  can  impose";  cited  the  vast  fortunes  of  the 
Vanderbilts,  Goulds,  Sages,  and  Fields,  and  denounced 
the  outrage  that  "while  the  middle  classes  pay  taxes  on 
all  that  they  consume  these  millionaires  should  escape 
their  proper  share  of  the  public  burdens";  explained 
how  the  British  income  tax  had  been  "re-established  after 


286  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

a  suspension  of  twenty  years  by  a  Parliament  composed 
of  the  representatives  of  property"  because  it  was  " neces- 
sary for  the  public  safety"  and  how  it  had  been  " con- 
tinued ever  since  in  obedience  to  the  popular  will." 

In  1894  an  income-tax  law  passed  Congress.  It  has 
been  seen  how,  although  such  a  tax  had  already  been 
levied  in  the  United  States,  the  Supreme  Court  declared 
the  re-enactment  illegal,  in  a  five-to-four  vote.  Difference 
of  opinion  between  those  who  thought  a  Constitutional 
amendment  should  be  passed,  those  who  denounced  the 
Supreme  Court  and  wished  to  pack  it  to  reverse  its  de- 
cision, and  those  who  thought,  with  The  Worldj  that  a 
valid  law  if  properly  framed  could  be  passed  without  an 
amendment,  delayed  action.  In  1906  The  World  was 
still  unweariedly  advising  that  the  United  States  should 
" borrow  the  best  ideas"  of  England,  France,  and  Ger- 
many, and  adopt  "  progressive  inheritance  taxes,  with  a 
liberal  exemption  of  small  estates"  and  " graduated  in- 
come tax,  with  liberal  exemption  both  for  persons  and 
families." 

On  February  9,  1907,  The  World,  approving  President 
Roosevelt's  demand  for  a  graduated  income  tax  and  a 
federal  inheritance  tax,  thus  summarized  the  principles 
of  income  taxation  on  which  the  "common  sense  of 
Europe"  agreed: 

1.  There  should  be  a  generous  exemption.    This  is  $800  in 
England  and  is  to  be  SI, 000  in  France.    A  much  larger  exemp- 
tion would  be  required  in  this  country. 

2.  There  should  be  a  distinction  made  between  earned  income 
and  income  from  investment. 

3.  The  tax  should  be  graduated,  falling  most  heavily  upon 
those  colossal  incomes  whose  fortunate  recipients  would  other- 
wise most  nearly  escape  taxation. 

4.  Income  tax  should  be  supplemented  by  graduated  succes- 
sion taxes  upon  inherited  estates.     Already  in  England  this 
tax  rises  to  8  per  cent,  upon  the  largest  fortunes. 


PUBLIC    SERVICE  287 

In  a  special  message  on  June  16,  1909,  President  Taft 
followed  President  Roosevelt  in  urging  the  income-tax 
amendment  upon  the  attention  of  Congress,  and  it  was 
soon  passed  in  the  following  form: 

The  Congress  shall  have  the  power  to  levy  and  collect  taxes  on 
incomes,  from  whatever  source  derived,  without  apportionment 
among  the  States  and  without  regard  to  any  census  enumeration. 

Two  weeks  before  the  assembling  of  the  New  York 
Legislature  The  World  was  already  urging  Governor 
Hughes  to  recommend  ratification  of  the  amendment. 
Much  time  would  have  been  saved  if  he  had  seen  the 
matter  in  the  same  light  as  President  Taft.  Instead,  he 
advised  against  ratification  because  of  the  inclusion  of 
the  words  "from  whatever  source  derived."  This  phrase 
was  construed  to  permit  the  taxation  of  state  and  munici- 
pal bonds  by  the  federal  government.  Said  The  World  on 
January  6,  1910: 

Gov.  Hughes  has  furnished  to  the  opponents  of  the  income- 
tax  amendment  the  one  thing  that  they  have  been  seeking — 
a  plausible  argument  from  a  highly  respectable  source.  .  .  . 

Regardless  of  the  distinction  he  makes,  Gov.  Hughes's 
message  will  be  hailed  with  delight  by  all  the  interests  that 
oppose  an  income  tax.  .  .  .  Wall  Street  is  always  for  State 
rights  when  there  is  any  money  in  it.  ...  It  will  turn  Gov. 
Hughes's  message,  his  arguments,  his  influence  and  his  great 
reputation  to  its  own  account  in  every  State  capital  in  which 
there  is  a  chance  to  prevent  ratification  of  the  amendment. 

What  The  World  predicted  happened.  Enemies  of  the 
measure  divided  the  counsels  of  its  friends,  now  hesitating 
anew  whether  to  amend  the  amendment  by  omitting  the 
four  offending  words  or  to  pass  it  unchanged.  The  latter 
course  prevailed,  and  state  after  state  ratified  the  measure. 
The  accession  of  New  York  came  only  with  the  election  of  a 
Democratic  Legislature,  and  it  was  with  difficulty  that  the 


288  THE    STORY    OF   A   PAGE 

measure  was  pushed  by  public  opinion  past  the  barrier 
erected  by  the  "Old  Guard"  in  Albany.  No  organ  of 
public  opinion  aided  so  steadily  and  powerfully  as  The 
World  to  bring  this  great  measure  to  triumph. 

The  taxation  of  monopolies  and  corporations  covered 
two  planks  in  the  platform  of  The  World;  and  in  securing 
the  Franchise  tax  of  New  York  it  led  the  way  in  squeezing 
out  of  these  combinations  some  assistance  in  bearing  the 
public  burdens. 

Akin  to  the  Franchise-tax  campaign  was  the  long  strug- 
gle of  The  World  to  compel  lower  indirect  taxation  by  the 
Gas  Trust,  through  a  reduction  of  its  rate  first  to  one 
dollar  a  thousand  cubic  feet,  and  then  to  eighty  cents. 
Every  step  was  fiercely  fought.  The  Legislature  under 
persistent  prodding  authorized  an  investigation  com- 
mittee which,  with  Charles  E.  Hughes  as  counsel,  brought 
out  in  1905  a  mass  of  facts  upon  which  an  eighty-cent 
law  was  passed.  The  Gas  Trust  went  into  the  federal 
courts  upon  a  plea  of  confiscation,  and  won  victories 
before  Referee  Hasten  and  in  the  United  States  Circuit 
Court  in  New  York  City.  When  these  decisions  were 
rendered  The  World  caused  some  sarcastic  comment  by 
"  re  versing"  them;  as  when  on  May  22,  1907,  it  said: 
"It  is  doubtful  whether  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  will  concur  with  Referee  Masten's  findings"; 
as  when  it  said  of  Judge  Hough's  decision,  based  upon 
Referee  Masten's  finding  that  the  eighty-cent  bill  was 
unconstitutional : 

This  view  of  the  fourteenth  amendment  makes  the  Railroad 
Rate  law  unconstitutional.  The  free  street-car  transfer  law 
could  be  set  aside  on  the  same  ground.  No  franchise  could  be 
repealed,  for  that  would  destroy  "  property."  No  franchise 
once  capitalized  could  be  amended  if  profits  were  thereby 
reduced. 

Whether  New  York  City  has  eighty-cent  or  ninety-cent  or 
one -dollar  gas  is  of  little  consequence  compared  with  the 


PUBLIC    SERVICE  289 

great  question  of  whether  a  franchise  is  superior  to  legislative 
restriction  or  legislation. 

Referee  Masten's  decision  as  accepted  by  Judge  Hough 
menaced  more  than  the  eighty-cent  gas  law: 

Baldly  expressed,  he  decides  that  a  public  franchise  becomes 
private  property  when  in  the  possession  of  a  corporation,  and 
that  the  value  of  the  capitalized  profits  cannot  be  diminished 
by  the  Legislature.  In  other  words,  that  the  people  once  having 
granted  a  franchise  are  thereafter  helpless  to  protect  themselves 
from  extortion,  once  that  extortion  is  capitalized. 

Obviously,  a  grant  of  sovereign  power  cannot  be  irrevocably 
made  to  a  corporation  unless  the  sovereignty  of  a  State  is 
divisible.  If  a  franchise  grant  is  not  revocable  the  people  can 
divest  themselves  of  their  sovereignty,  and  the  moment  that 
any  people  has  divested  itself  of  sovereignty,  either  in  whole  or 
in  part,  that  people  ceases  to  be  free  and  independent  to  the 
extent  that  its  sovereignty  has  been  parted  with. 

The  decision  of  Referee  Hasten  is  revolutionary.  Should  it 
by  any  misfortune  be  sustained  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  the  governmental  powers  of  this  country  would 
henceforth  be  divided.  The  most  profitable  part  of  these 
powers  would  be  exercised  by  public  -  service  corporations. 
The  remainder,  constantly  dwindling,  would  be  all  the  people 
would  have  left. 

On  January  4,  1909,  the  Supreme  Court  found,  as  The 
World  had  done,  that  a  public-service  company  cannot 
capitalize  good  will;  that  no  reasonable  rate  can  be  called 
con&scatory  until  it  has  been  tried ;  that  if  the  eighty-cent 
rate  did  not  provide  a  fair  return  the  Gas  Trust  could 
appeal  for  relief;  that  a  corporation  cannot  capitalize  at 
its  own  valuation  and  require  a  rate  profitable  thereon. 

In  questions  affecting  working-men  The  World  has 
kept  the  spirit  of  its  1883  program.  It  long  sustained  the 
efforts  made  in  New  York  for  a  workmen's  compensation 
act.  It  held  that  the  system  under  which  employers 


290  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

intrust  to  insurance  companies  the  task  of  fighting  damage 
suits  by  injured  workmen,  and  every  effort  of  delay  is 
used  to  defeat  just  claims,  is  costly  and  repulsive.  When 
the  Court  of  Appeals  decided  that  a  Compensation  act 
passed  by  the  New  'York  Legislature  was  invalid,  The 
World  urged  that  a  constitutional  amendment  should  be 
adopted  enabling  the  Legislature  to  pass  an  act  that 
would  stand  review.  The  World  has  also  pressed  ad- 
vanced child-labor  laws  and  factory  acts  upon  attention. 

The  World  has  naturally  been  interested  in  the  efforts 
of  democracy  abroad.  It  kept  a  friendly  attitude  toward 
the  Portuguese  Republic,  the  short-lived  reforms  of  the 
Young  Turks,  the  attempts  at  self-government  and  na- 
tional union  in  Persia,  China,  the  Balkans.  It  led  the 
fight  against  the  machinations  of  American  capitalists 
and  jingoes  who  would  use  the  State  Department  to  bully 
weaker  nations  in  the  interest  of  schemes  of  exploitation ; 
and,  as  often  before,  it  gave  the  contest  a  name  that  was 
a  weapon.  As  " Dollar  Diplomacy"  it  made  the  attempt 
to  force  a  loan  upon  China  that  China  neither  needed  nor 
asked  for,  and  various  menaces  of  Central  American 
states,  odious  to  the  people.  It  has  tried  to  avoid  the 
error  of  taking  its  views  of  British  politics  from  Tory 
London,  and  parroting  the  cry  that  more  democracy  is 
ruining  England.  Its  sympathies  have  been  Home  Rule 
and  Liberal;  it  has  not  been  democratic  at  home  and 
Tory  abroad. 

The  Russo-Japanese  War  appealed  to  The  World  be- 
cause of  its  hatred  of  Russian  autocracy  and  its  hope  that 
defeat  might  further  domestic  reforms  in  the  Cossack 
Empire.  From  the  beginning  of  the  conflict  in  1904 
it  was  never  deceived  by  the  giant  proportions  of  Russia. 
It  called  the  fear  of  Russia's  power  "a  pricked  bubble." 
It  hailed  the  Czar's  acknowledgment  of  the  "  right  of  the 
people  to  participate  in  the  government"  through  the 
Duma,  and  his  resolve,  as  the  Imperial  rescript  ran, 


PUBLIC    SERVICE  291 

"  henceforth,  with  the  help  of  God,  to  convene  the  worth- 
iest men  possessing  the  confidence  of  the  people,  and 
elected  by  them,  to  participate  in  the  elaboration  and 
consideration  of  legislative  measures." 

When  Rojestvensky's  fleet  was  on  its  ill-starred  way 
half  round  the  world  to  attack  Japan,  and  when  naval 
experts  were  fighting  shy  of  predicting  defeat  or  victory, 
Mr.  Pulitzer  sent  peremptory  instructions  to  say  "with- 
out ifs  or  buts"  that  the  Russian  fleet  would  be  destroyed. 
There  was  accordingly  printed  on  April  11,  1905,  a 
prediction  that  attracted  much  attention  from  its 
boldness: 

Rojestvensky's  fleet  plunging  northward  into  the  China  Sea 
to  its  doom  is  to-day  the  most  thrilling  spectacle  in  the  world. 

All  the  elements  of  dramatic  effect  are  combined  in  its  dogged 
advance.  The  element  of  heightened  tension,  since  for  six 
months  the  world  has  read  with  slowly  mounting  interest  of 
its  progress,  its  baitings,  checks,  feints,  coalings,  target  practice; 
the  element  of  tragedy,  for  the  whole  air  about  it  is  heavy 
with  the  menace  of  death;  the  element  of  valor  and  of  sacrifice, 
for  never  were  brave  men  pushed  forward  to  slaughter  with 
more  cynic  cruelty.  .  .  . 

And  so  the  battle-ships  with  their  weed-grown  bottoms, 
which  will  matter  little  enough  when  they  rest  under  the  waves 
from  their  last  voyage,  and  the  old  cruisers,  such  as  Great 
Britain  has  just  been  throwing  upon  the  scrap-heap,  and  the 
converted  merchantmen  that  curb  their  fleetness  to  the  lumber- 
ing train,  and  all  the  other  elements  of  a  mighty  Russian  fleet — 
on  paper — are  going  up,  to  be  smashed  or  beached  or  blown  up 
or  sunk.  .  .  . 

Was  ever  wickedness  in  a  ruler  more  foolish?  Was  ever 
folly  more  wicked  than  to  insist  upon  the  sacrifice? 

So  interested  was  Mr.  Pulitzer  in  seeing  the  Russian 
giant  beaten  and  still  beaten,  until  the  Czar  in  good  faith 
rendered  up  to  the  people  the  power,  that  The  World 
predicted  that  peace  was  impossible,  even  as  peace 


292  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

was  being  made.  Calling  the  " great  Russia"  of  the 
Czar  a  "shown-up  sham,"  it  said:  "To  give  back  one  inch 
of  Chinese  territory  to  Russian  hands  would  be  to  expose 
millions  to  exploitation.  To  forego  one  penny  of  the 
ransom  the  bankers  of  the  world  are  willing  to  provide 
Russia  in  her  dilemma  would  leave  her  so  much  the  more 
able  to  launch  new  war-ships,  to  raise  new  regiments,  to 
forge  new  arms,  to  buy  new  knouts  for  Cossacks  to  lay 
on  women  students'  backs."  These  were  excellent  reasons 
for  crushing  Russia;  but  there  were  also  reasons  why 
Japan  was  satisfied  to  let  Russian  democracy  do  its  own 
crushing. 

The  attitude  of  The  World  upon  the  Portsmouth  peace 
was  Mr.  Pulitzer's  personal  attitude.  He  dictated  many 
of  the  editorials  printed  at  that  time.  It  was  one  of  the 
few  occasions  when  his  ardent  sympathies  led  astray  his 
keen  perception  of  the  trend  of  events. 

It  was  the  contention  of  The  World  and  of  its  founder 
that  the  expression  and  information  of  Public  Opinion 
was  one  of  the  highest  tasks  in  a  republic.  Mr.  Pulitzer 
held  that  one  great  need  of  the  country  was  a  body  of 
trained  journalists,  bound  together  by  professional  stand- 
ards of  honor.  He  wished  to  see  journalists  subscribe  to 
ethical  rules  as  well  defined  as  those  of  the  legal  and 
medical  professions.  He  early  evolved  a  plan  for  such 
training,  and  on  the  completion  of  twenty  years  of  owner- 
ship of  The  World  he  offered  Columbia  University  $1,000,- 
000  to  establish  a  School  of  Journalism,  with  another 
$1,000,000  conditional  upon  its  successful  operation. 
What  he  thought  of  the  reasons  which  demanded  such  a 
school  he  told  in  The  World  of  August  16,  1903.  There 
were  one  hundred  schools  for  lawyers  in  the  country; 
for  journalists  not  one.  It  was  the  fashion  in  the  news- 
paper world  to  say  that  "journalism  alone  of  all  arts, 
sciences,  trades,  and  professions  in  the  world  cannot  be 
systematically  taught,  but  must  be  picked  up  as  a  boy 


PUBLIC    SERVICE  293 

picks  up  a  knowledge  of  swimming  when  he  is  thrown 
into  the  water.     Some  boys  drown. "     And  yet  .  .  . 

—  every  newspaper  is  a  daily  sufferer  from  the  lack  of 
training  in  its  staff.  The  first  question  an  editor  asks  of  an 
applicant  for  a  position  is,  "What  has  been  your  experience?" 
In  other  words:  "Have  you  picked  up  some  knowledge  of  your 
duties  at  the  expense  of  some  other  newspaper,  or  must  I  waste 
my  time  teaching  you  the  rudiments  of  the  trade?" 

In  former  years  a  boy  began  the  study  of  law  by  sweeping 
out  a  lawyer's  office,  or  of  medicine  by  mixing  pills  for  a  country 
doctor.  Instruction  for  newspaper  work  is  still  in  the  same 
stage.  That  law  and  medicine  are  now  studied  in  professional 
schools,  while  a  knowledge  of  newspaper  work  must  be  "picked 
up"  in  an  office,  does  not  mean  that  journalism  is  any  less 
capable  than  law  or  medicine  of  being  systematically  taught, 
but  merely  that  the  methods  of  preparation  for  one  profession 
have  stood  still,  while  those  for  the  others  have  advanced. 

From  these  practical  considerations  The  World  pro- 
ceeded to  the  underlying  ethical  ones: 

The  object  of  this  School  of  Journalism,  as  described  by  its 
founder,  is  to  make  the  newspaper  profession  a  still  nobler  one — 
to  raise  its  character  and  standing,  to  increase  its  power  and 
prestige,  through  the  better  equipment  of  those  who  adopt  it, 
and  by  attracting  to  it  more  and  more  men  of  the  highest  capac- 
ity and  the  loftiest  ideals. 

Mr.  Pulitzer  in  the  last  months  of  his  life  had  begun 
work  upon  the  organization  of  the  School  of  Journalism. 
By  his  will  an  endowment  upon  substantially  the  terms 
quoted  was  released,  and  Columbia  University  opened  the 
school  in  October,  1912.  The  new  building  which  is  to 
house  it  is  now  completed,  and  an  able  corps  of  instructors, 
headed  by  Dr.  Talcott  Williams,  well  known  both  as  a 
scholar  and  a  journalist,  as  director,  is  actively  at  work. 

In  the  years  when   The  World  was   supporting   the 


294  THE    STORY    OF    A   PAGE 

administration  of  Governor  Hughes  in  Albany  it  ener- 
getically fought  the  wasteful  Catskill  Aqueduct. 

The  provision  of  water  for  New  York  had  long  been  a 
problem.  Federal  law  forbade  going  into  New  Jersey  or 
Connecticut  for  a  supply.  Suffolk  County,  Long  Island, 
had  secured  a  state  act  forbidding  the  extension  of  the 
Brooklyn  waterworks.  Similar  exclusion  acts  hemmed 
in  the  Croton  waterworks  on  the  North.  These  acts  were 
passed  partly  because  of  a  feeling  in  rural  counties  that 
the  people  needed  the  supply  of  their  own  streams,  but 
more  because  of  the  machinations  of  private  water 
companies,  of  which  the  "  Great  Chartered  Ramapo"  con- 
spiracy was  the  chief,  to  compel  the  city  to  buy  their 
rights.  Honest  local  objection  to  extension  could  have 
been  met  by  making  a  plan  under  state  authority  for  a 
metropolitan  water  district  within  which  all  the  towns 
could  have  obtained  supply  from  a  common  source,  as 
Massachusetts  has  done.  The  engineers  called  into  con- 
sultation said  that  a  small  plant  for  temporary  supply 
could  at  a  not  exorbitant  price  be  placed  across  the 
Hudson.  From  this  suggestion,  reasonable  in  the  cir- 
cumstances, grew  a  great  bi-partisan  waterworks  under- 
taking with  " millions  in  it77  for  speculators  in  land  op- 
tions, for  contractors  and  appraisers. 

The  World  was  not  slow  to  denounce  this  scheme. 
On  October  14,  1905,  it  said: 

The  city  must  pay  $161,000,000  for  the  extension  of  its 
waterworks.  The  entire  present  system  in  all  the  boroughs  is 
valued  at  only  $125,000,000.  Its  present  cost  to  the  city — the 
bonds  upon  which  the  people  pay  interest — is  only  $77,000,000, 
the  original  debt  having  been  reduced  by  instalments  from  the 
water  rates.  For  the  northward  extension  of  its  mains  the  city 
must  more  than  triple  the  water  debt  upon  all  its  plants. 

The  fight  continued  for  years.  On  January  25,  1908, 
The  World  printed  as  part  of  an  editorial  upon  the  squan- 


PUBLIC    SERVICE  295 

dering  of  millions  a  photograph  of  the  water  rushing  to 
waste  over  Croton  dam.     This  article  said: 

More  water  has  been  going  over  this  spillway  in  the  last  two 
months  than  has  flowed  through  the  aqueducts.  For  several 
weeks  a  daily  average  of  969,000,000  gallons  has  gone  to  waste, 
or  three  times  as  much  as  daily  flows  through  the  aqueducts 
to  New  York  City. 

This  waste  occurs  not  one  year,  but  every  year. 

Computing  the  value  of  water  on  the  estimated  cost  of  the 
Esopus  scheme  and  the  amount  of  water  which  it  would  supply, 
which  gives  an  equivalent  of  $85  per  million  gallons,  there  is 
every  day  $82,365  flowing  over  the  Croton  dam.  .  .  . 

Why  should  the  city  of  New  York  be  called  upon  to  go 
eighty  miles  further  away,  to  the  foot  of  the  Catskills,  at  a  mini- 
mum cost  of  more  than  $161,000,000,  when  more  water  which 
the  city  already  owns  is  now  going  to  waste  than  flows  through 
Esopus  Creek?  .  .  . 

Owing  to  the  greater  evaporation  during  the  summer  there 
will  always  be  an  annual  danger  of  an  August  or  September 
water  famine  unless  the  city  provides  more  storage  capacity. 
This  can  be  done  either  by  going  to  the  Catskills,  buying  mil- 
lions of  dollars'  worth  of  land  there  and  building  an  aqueduct 
one  hundred  and  ten  miles  to  New  York;  or  it  can  be  done  by 
cleaning  out  the  present  reservoirs,  by  building  new  storage 
reservoirs  in  the  Croton  watershed,  where  the  city  already 
owns  the  land,  and  then  laying  more  pipes  from  the  Croton, 
thirty  miles,  instead  of  from  the  Catskills,  one  hundred  and  ten 
miles. 

The  money  saved  would  be  enough  to  build  four  long  inter- 
borough  subways  or  eight  short  ones,  to  build  all  the  new  school- 
houses  New  York  would  require  for  ten  years,  and  to  equip 
the  Fire  Department  with  ten  thousand  lengths  of  hose  that 
would  not  burst. 

If  an  engineer  had  been  asked  to  say  how  New  York 
should  be  provided  with  water  he  would  have  said,  as 
The  World  did:  first,  stop  waste  and  bring  consumption 
nearer  to  a  generous  but  reasonable  allowance;  then 


296  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

stretch  the  Croton  Aqueduct  gradually  northward  as 
needed,  always  under  state  authority,  always  supplying 
the  towns  along  the  line.  If  a  practical  politician  were 
asked  how  to  get  more  water  he  would  have  replied: 
"Let  the  people  use  all  the  water  they  want.  Get  up  a 
big  scheme. "  This  is  what  the  Catskill  Aqueduct  plan 
did.  Beginning  at  the  wrong  end  of  water  extension — the 
end  farthest  from  the  city — a  state  commission  irrespon- 
sible to  the  city  planned  the  huge  Ashokan  reservoir 
before  it  was  even  shown  how  the  water  would  be  brought 
across  the  Hudson  River.  This  problem  was  only  solved 
after  long  experiment  by  an  extremely  deep  and  costly 
inverted  siphon. 

The  fight  on  the  water  folly  was  continued  until  the 
election  of  Mayor  Gaynor.  The  city  was  then  so  far 
committed  that  it  might  have  been  almost  as  wasteful 
to  drop  the  project  as  to  carry  it  on.  But  The  World  had 
the  satisfaction  of  seeing  some  of  the  waste  of  public 
money  cut  off  by  the  appointment  of  a  special  Assistant 
Corporation  Counsel  to  fight  extravagant  condemnation 
awards  and  excessive  bills  of  appraisal  commissioners. 

When  serious  charges  were  brought  against  Mr.  Justice 
Hooker,  of  the  New  York  Supreme  Court,  in  1905  The 
World  waxed  sarcastic  over  the  plea  of  his  friends  that  the 
acts  complained  of  were  performed  before  he  became  a 
judge,  while  he  was  in  Congress;  that  these  were  "polit- 
ical practices"  and  did  not  touch  his  "judicial  integrity." 
"This  view,"  it  said,  "seems  to  appeal  to  the  Gas  Senators, 
to  the  Sugar  Senators,  to  the  Corporation  Senators.  It  is 
whispered  by  the  loftily  virtuous  McCarren.  It  thunders 
in  the  eloquence  of  the  ascetic  and  impeccable  Grady." 

Yet  while  quick  to  denounce  impropriety  in  individual 
judges  The  World  has  been  a  defender  of  the  courts;  has 
insisted  upon  better  payment  of  judges;  has  opposed 
limitations  to  the  writ  of  injunction,  sought  by  people 
who  do  not  always  clearly  see  the  meaning  of  their 


PUBLIC    SERVICE  297 

endeavors;  has  fought  the  modern  panacea  of  the  judicial 
recall.  In  1911  this  doctrine  became  prominent  in  dis- 
cussion because  of  the  struggle  in  Congress  over  the  ad- 
mission of  Arizona  as  a  state,  with  a  constitution  includ- 
ing provision  for  the  recall  of  judges.  Said  The  World: 

The  initiative  and  referendum  is  dubious  enough  itself, 
but  when  it  is  coupled  with  the  recall  of  judges  it  means  a 
revolution  in  our  system  of  government.  The  checks  and 
balances  are  overturned.  The  barriers  against  sudden  out- 
bursts ^of  popular  passion  are  thrown  down.  The  majority 
can  do  what  it  will.  The  minority  has  no  rights  which  the 
majority  is  bound  to  respect. 

One  of  the  last  editorials  which  Mr.  Pulitzer  personally 
suggested  was  that  of  August  11,  1911,  upon  this  subject. 
The  whimsical  references  to  Tammany  judges  and  to 
Judge  Archbald  were  contained  in  his  memorandum.  The 
article  runs  in  part: 

The  World  is  gratified  by  the  report  that  President  Taft  is 
preparing  a  ringing  veto  message  upon  the  Statehood  bill 
just  passed  by  Congress  for  the  admission  of  Arizona  and  New 
Mexico.  .  .  . 

The  dangers  of  the  recall  are  insidious.  If  we  had  it  now 
in  full  force  in  State  and  Nation,  The  World  would  certainly 
wish  to  recall  some  of  our  boss-appointed  Tammany  judges. 
We  should  recall  United  States  District  Judge  Archbald,  who 
lets  off  with  fines  the  worst  Wire  Trust  offenders  and  releases 
the  $1,400,000  smuggler  who  jumps  his  bail  bond,  while  sending 
the  $2,500  smuggler  to  jail.  But  individual  exceptions  do  not 
disprove  the  general  value  of  our  well-tried  system  of  govern- 
ment by  checked  and  balanced  powers.  .  .  . 

These  checks  do  not  hamstring  progress.  They  may  some- 
times compel  a  salutary  pause  for  reflection,  discussion,  the 
wiser  second  thought.  Against  a  dictator  we  may  never  need 
them.  They  are  as  stanch  to  resist  the  firebrand  and  the 

demagogue. 
20 


298  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

Judge  Archbald  was  later  placed  under  impeachment 
charges  by  the  House  of  Representatives  for  causes  other 
than  those  mentioned,  and  on  January  13,  1913,  was 
found  guilty  by  the  Senate.  The  World  said  of  this 
verdict : 

The  Institution  of  Impeachment  is  revived  and  invigorated 
by  the  proceeding  against  Robert  W.  Archbald,  a  Circuit 
Judge  of  the  United  States  sitting  in  the  Commerce  Court, 
which  has  resulted  in  his  conviction  and  removal  from  office. 

Impeachment  is  an  institution  because  it  is  the  method 
prescribed  by  the  Constitution  for  the  punishment  of  public 
officers  who  betray  their  trust  or  otherwise  prove  their  unfitness. 
.  .  .  That  this  institution  has  fallen  into  disfavor  of  late  has 
been  due  wholly  to  negligence.  .  .  . 

We  now  see  that  Robert  W.  Archbald  never  should  have 
been  made  a  Judge.  He  was  a  self-seeker  on  the  bench.  His 
relations  with  litigants  in  his  court  were  scandalous.  He 
accepted  favors  and  gratuities.  He  was  interested  financially 
in  matters  that  came  before  him.  He  exhibited  a  bias  in  favor 
of  the  rich  and  the  powerful.  He  had  no  true  appreciation  of 
the  position  that  he  held  or  of  his  responsibilities  to  the  people. 
He  was  a  man  misplaced. 

The  vote  of  the  Senate  by  which  he  loses  his  office  and  is 
forever  debarred  from  holding  another  is  the  most  impressive 
judgment  rendered  by  that  body  for  many  a  year.  ...  It 
is  a  death-blow  to  the  demagogy  of  the  judicial  recall  by 
popular  uproar. 

Naturally  The  World  looked  with  no  more  favor  upon 
the  gloss  on  the  judicial  recall  which  Colonel  Roosevelt 
described  as  the  " recall  of  judicial  decisions."  This 
device  would  keep  the  electorate  of  every  state — and  as 
to  federal  decisions,  the  voters  of  all  the  states — in  a 
perpetual  stew  of  constitutional  revision  through  the 
reversal  of  court  decisions.  The  doctrine  was  annexed 
by  Mr.  Roosevelt  in  his  speech  before  the  Ohio  Con- 
stitutional Convention  on  February  21,  1912.  As  he 


PUBLIC    SERVICE  299 

expressed  it,  "The  decision  of  a  state  court  on  a  consti- 
tutional question  should  be  subject  to  revision  by  the 
people  of  the  state": 

If  any  considerable  number  of  the  people  feel  that  the  decision  is 
in  defiance  of  justice,  they  should  be  given  the  right  by  petition  to 
bring  before  the  voters  at  some  subsequent  election,  the  question 
whether  or  not  the  Judge's  interpretation  of  the  Constitution  is  to 
be  sustained.  If  it  is  sustained,  well  and  good.  If  not,  then  the 
popular  verdict  is  to  be  accepted  as  final,  the  decision  is  to  be  treated 
as  reversed  and  the  construction  of  the  Constitution  definitely  decided 
— subject  only  to  action  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 

Said  The  World  in  comment : 

In  other  words,  the  majority  is  to  enact  the  laws  through 
the  initiative  and  referendum,  and  the  majority  is  to  interpret 
the  laws  through  another  initiative  and  referendum.  If  a 
State  court  undertakes  to  protect  the  rights  of  a  minority,  if 
a  State  court  ventures  to  say  that  an  act  of  the  majority  tran- 
scends the  Constitution  or  transgresses  against  human  rights 
and  human  liberties,  the  Judge  may  be  recalled  and  the  decision 
reversed  by  the  majority  which  enacted  the  law. 

In  these  circumstances  there  would  be  no  State  Constitution 
except  from  day  to  day.  No  man  would  have  any  stable 
guarantee  that  the  majority  would  respect  his  rights  and  no 
man  would  know  to-day  what  his  constitutional  rights  might 
be  to-morrow.  Every  instrument  that  makes  for  stability  of 
government  would  have  been  crippled  or  destroyed.  State 
government  would  become  a  matter  of  mob-rule — a  quiet, 
orderly  mob,  perhaps,  but  a  mob  that  was  lawless  and  unre- 
strained and  responsible  only  to  itself  for  its  actions. 

The  World  has  been  no  more  zealous  in  praise  of  the 
extension  of  the  principle  of  initiative  and  referendum, 
especially  for  the  more  populous  states,  where  vast  masses 
of  people  are  herded  in  the  large  cities.  It  has  been  con- 
tent to  see  these  cure-alls  tried  in  the  far  West,  where 
cities  are  smaller,  the  illiteracy  percentage  lower,  and  wrong 
decisions  likely  to  be  made  upon  a  scale  less  disastrous. 


300  THE    STORY   OF   A   PAGE 

It  was  in  the  spirit  of  The  World's  platform  of  1883  that 
on  the  first  day  of  January,  1913,  with  its  thirtieth  anni- 
versary rapidly  approaching,  it  put  forth  a  programme  of 
immediately  practicable  reforms.  "An  increase  of  more 
than  100  per  cent,  in  the  Socialist  vote,"  it  said,  "the 
support  that  more  than  4,000,000  citizens  gave  to  the 
semi-Socialist  Roosevelt  candidacy  is  sufficient  proof  of 
a  rapidly  growing  unrest  that  will  no  longer  be  satisfied 
with  perfunctory  reforms  or  with  government  that  does 
not  adjust  itself  to  the  changing  needs  of  the  general 
welfare."  The  programme  follows: 

1.  Tariff  revision  to  reduce  the  cost  of  living,  with  unremitting 
opposition  to  all  forms  of  governmental  waste  and  extravagance. 

2.  Enforcement  of  the  criminal  provisions  of  the  Sherman 
Anti-Trust  law  against  all  deliberate  offenders. 

3.  Incorporation  of  the  New  York  Stock  Exchange,   and 
such  other  legislation  as  may  be  necessary  to  safeguard  legiti- 
mate business  from  the  public  evils  of  stock-gambling  and 
stock-jobbing. 

4.  An  elastic  currency  system  that  is  not  subject  to  Wall 
Street  control  and  manipulation. 

5.  Strict  regulation  of  child  labor. 

6.  An  employers'  liability  law,  by  Constitutional  amendment 
if  necessary. 

7.  Effective  protection  of  women  wage-earners. 

8.  Direct  nomination  of  candidates  for  State  office,  with  a 
constitutional  provision  for  the  short  ballot. 

9.  Home  rule  for  New  York  City,  with  complete  municipal 
power  over  gambling,  vice  and  liquor-selling,  and  a  reorganiza- 
tion of  the  Police  Department. 

10.  The  overthrow  of  Murphy,  and  the  election  of  a  capable 
anti-Tammany  Mayor  next  fall. 

"This  programme,"  said  The  World,  "is  in  harmony 
with  True  Democracy.  The  principles  which  it  repre- 
sents are  principles  which  The  World  has  championed  for 
nearly  thirty  years." 


XXI 

WILLIAM   HOWARD   TAFT 

Payne- Aldrich  Act  Repeats  the  Story  of  the  Wilson  Bill— Mr.  Taft's  Dilemma 
— He  Reluctantly  Sides  with  the  Tariff  Stand-patters — Revolt  in  the  House  of 
Representatives,  and  Party  Lines  Broken — Failure  of  the  Special  Session — 
Arbitration  Treaties  Negotiated  by  Mr.  Taft  Beaten  in  the  Senate — Canada 
Rejects  Reciprocity  Proffer — Two  Fine  Peace  Measures  thus  Defeated — 
Mr.  Taft,  the  Corporations  and  the  Courts — Undeserved  Humiliation  of  an 
Able  President. 

THE  success  or  failure  of  Mr.  Taft's  administration 
rested  on  the  tariff. 

The  Republican  tariff  plank  of  1908  was  reactionary. 
For  the  first  time  a  political  party  promised  not  only  well- 
paid  employment  to  protected  working-men  but  under- 
took to  guarantee  profits  to  protected  capital.  But  the 
people  had  some  reason  to  hope  that  the  party's  bite 
would  prove  less  vicious  than  its  bark.  Many  Republi- 
can leaders,  like  Senator  Dolliver  and  Senator  Cummins, 
were  known  to  favor  tariff  reduction.  Mr.  Taft  was  com- 
mitted in  word  and  in  belief  to  honest  "  revision  down- 
ward. "  The  sentiment  of  the  country  was  so  over- 
whelming that  it  was  supposed  no  party  could  defy  it. 

The  passage  of  the  Payne-Aldrich  tariff  repeated  to 
some  extent  the  story  of  the  Wilson  bill  under  the  second 
administration  of  President  Cleveland «  The  House  pre- 
pared a  measure  which  did  not  answer  the  expectations  of 
the  people  but  was  an  improvement  upon  existing  law. 
The  Senate  oligarchy  headed  by  Nelson  W.  Al-drich,  then 
doing  his  last  services  for  high  protection,  tore  the  bill 
in  pieces,  made  its  enormities  more  absurd,  piled  higher 


302  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

its  burdens.  Again,  as  with  the  Wilson  bill,  many 
members  of  Congress  consented  against  their  judgment 
to  the  passage  of  the  Payne-Aldrich  bill  because  they 
despaired  of  other  action.  Again  a  President  reluctantly 
assented  as  a  choice  of  evils.  But  in  the  manner  of  as- 
sent there  was  a  difference.  Mr.  Cleveland  refused  to 
sign  the  mutilated  Wilson  bill.  Mr.  Taft  was  expected 
to  refuse  to  sign  the  mutilated  Payne  bill.  He  disap- 
pointed expectations. 

In  the  end  he  signed.  He  admitted  that  it  was  "not  a 
perfect  Tariff  bill  or  a  complete  compliance  with  the 
promises  made,  strictly  interpreted."  He  said  that  "in  a 
number  of  cases"  excessive  tariff  duties  had  not  been 
reduced.  He  denounced  the  wool  schedule  as  "  inde- 
fensible." He  declared  that  "it  should  have  been 
lowered,"  and  that  "it  was  not,  because  a  combination  of 
representatives  from  the  manufacturing  and  wool-growing 
sections  of  the  East  and  West  had  a  majority  in  Congress 
that  was  overwhelming."  But  whatever  good  effect 
might  have  come  from  these  reservations  was  thrown 
away  later  by  excess  of  good  nature.  In  a  speech  in  the 
East  the  President  praised  Senator  Aldrich,  the  chief 
architect  of  the  abomination;  in  his  Winona  speech  in  the 
West  he  forgot  how  faulty  he  had  found  the  act,  and  re- 
ferred to  it  before  a  hostile  audience  as  on  the  whole 
"the  best  tariff  bill  that  the  Republican  party  has  ever 
passed  and,  therefore,  the  best  tariff  bill  that  has  been 
passed  at  all." 

The  World,  protesting  against  the  Payne-Aldrich  bill 
at  every  step,  did  not  abandon  the  contest.  Taking  the 
President  at  his  word  that  he  desired  revision,  it  began 
on  January  18,  1911,  a  series  of  editorials  headed,  "Give 
Us  a  Special  Session,  Mr.  Taft."  The  new  House, 
elected  in  November,  1910,  was  Democratic  by  sixty-five 
votes — the  reply  of  the  people  to  the  Payne-Aldrich  act. 
Even  Republicans  in  Congress  might  be  ready  under  the 


WILLIAM    HOWARD    TAFT          303 

chastening  of  such  a  smashing  overturn  from  their  ma- 
jority of  fifty  in  the  previous  House  to  look  upon  tariff 
reform  as  inevitable.  Said  The  World: 

By  impressive  majorities  the  people  in  November  condemned 
privilege  in  laws  and  in  taxation.  In  particular  they  passed 
judgment  upon  the  taxes  which  under  the  manipulation  of 
trusts  have  so  oppressively  increased  the  prices  of  food  and 
clothing. 

This  is  not  the  first  time  that  they  have  done  this  thing. 
A  generation  has  come  and  gone  since  1876,  when  tariff  reform 
and  retrenchment  swept  the  country.  The  demand  was  re- 
peated insistently  in  1884,  in  1892  and  in  1908.  Both  of  the 
great  parties  have  promised  to  undertake  the  work.  Both 
have  been  tried.  Both  have  failed.  .  .  . 

If  the  fruits  of  recent  political  activity  are  to  be  gathered; 
if  popular  rule  is  to  be  spared  another  staggering  blow;  if 
fresh  energy  is  not  to  be  given  to  all  the  socialistic  and  revolu- 
tionary influences  which  even  now  are  undermining  representa- 
tive government,  the  President  cannot  fail  to  perceive  that  it 
is  his  highest  duty  to  call  the  new  Congress  in  extra  session  in 
March.  .  .  . 

It  happens  occasionally  in  the  affairs  of  nations  that  one 
man  finds  himself  so  placed  as  to  be  able  by  a  word  or  the 
stroke  of  a  pen  to  leave  his  impress  for  good  forever  upon  his 
time.  We  believe  that  President  Taft  is  thus  situated  to-day. 
Honor  and  fame  hang  on  his  initiative. 

The  World  was  able  to  marshal  such  aid  in  its  demand 
that  Mr.  Taft  was  constrained  on  March  5th  to  call  a 
special  session  for  April  4,  1911.  The  World  hailed  his 
message  as  "A  Victory  for  the  People": 

Making  claim  to  nothing  more  than  public  service  in  revealing 
from  day  to  day  the  drift  of  opinion,  The  World  nevertheless 
feels  that,  through  its  efforts  and  those  of  other  newspapers 
that  ably  seconded  it,  the  President  has  been  made  acquainted 
with  the  people's  views  and  strengthened  in  his  disposition  to 
give  them  proper  effect.  Champ  Clark,  who  will  be  Speaker 


304  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

of  the  House  when  Congress  convenes,  calls  The  World's  battle 
for  an  extra  session  "one  of  the  most  effective  campaigns  I 
have  ever  known  a  newspaper  to  make."  For  once  plutocracy 
and  privilege  did  not  monopolize  all  attention  at  Washington. 
If  this  courageous  act  shall  be  followed  at  the  proper  time 
by  a  Presidential  recommendation  that  the  new  Congress 
remove  the  extortionate  taxes  upon  food  and  clothing,  Mr. 
Taft  will  have  the  distinction  of  promoting  a  reform  that 
cannot  fail  to  give  him  lasting  fame. 

Congress,  by  an  alliance  between  Democrats  and  Pro- 
gressive Republicans,  passed  in  the  1911  special  session 
bills  reducing  duties  upon  cotton  and  woolen  goods  and  the 
so-called  Farmers'  Free  List  bill.  Mr.  Taft  vetoed  them 
all  in  turn  on  the  ground  that  they  made  excessive  cuts, 
and  that  they  were  not  based  upon  exact  knowledge  de- 
rived from  the  Tariff  Board's  inquiries.  Since  in  his 
Chicago  pledge  of  December  3,  1910,  the  President  had 
said  "We  are  bound  to  promote  the  prompt  elimination  of 
instances  of  injustice  in  the  Tariff  law,"  there  seemed  little 
point  in  advising  Congress  to  wait  for  the  reports  of  a 
board  which  had  no  status  as  its  informant  but  was 
merely  empowered  to  advise  the  President  upon  maximum 
and  minimum  schedules. 

The  World  commented  upon  the  vetoes  in  repeated 
articles  headed,  "Has  Mr.  Taft  Committed  Suicide?" 
Thus  on  August  23, 1911 : 

With  his  veto  of  the  Cotton  bill  Mr.  Taft  completed  the 
slaughter  of  all  the  tariff-reform  measures  passed  by  Congress. 

No  President  could  have  been  committed  more  unqualifiedly 
to  the  reduction  of  the  wool  and  woolen  duties  than  Mr.  Taft 
was  by  his  verbal  and  written  pledges.  His  veto  of  the  Wool 
bill  is  inexcusable.  He  had  denounced  the  woolen  schedule 
of  the  Payne- Aldrich  tariff  as  "  indefensible." 

The  Farmers'  Free  List  bill  was  the  logical  complement  of 
Canadian  Reciprocity.  It  was  designed  to  affect  directly  the 
cost  of  living  and  of  supplies  at  a  time  when  prices  to  consumers 


WILLIAM    HOWARD    TAFT          305 

are  again  rising.  Mr.  Taft  wrote  his  veto  of  the  bill  before 
Congress  had  passed  it. 

It  was  on  the  cotton  schedule  in  the  Payne-Aldrich  tariff 
that  the  Republican  Senator  Dolliver  made  his  great  fight  and 
showed  how  the  country  was  being  imposed  upon  in  the  name 
of  protection.  The  cotton  duties  were  raised  in  the  Tariff 
act  of  1909,  and  by  his  veto  of  the  Cotton  bill  Mr.  Taft  justifies 
the  increase  and  prevents  reduction.  .  .  . 

With  how  much  faith  does  Mr.  Taft  imagine  the  people, 
whose  just  hopes  he  has  mocked,  will  listen  to  him  when  next 
he  offers  himself  as  their  leader  in  a  campaign  for  real  tariff 
revision? 

The  question  was  answered  the  following  year.  But 
before  the  verdict  was  rendered  that  put  the  Republican 
party  third  in  popular  strength  at  the  polls  indisputable 
proof  was  given  that  the  country  was  against  Mr.  Taft. 
On  April  4,  1912,  the  new  House  in  regular  session  once 
more  passed  the  Wool  bill,  182  to  92;  and  the  Metal 
Schedules  bill,  passed  by  both  Houses  and  vetoed,  was 
actually  passed  over  the  President's  veto  in  the  House 
by  173  to  83,  with  many  absentees.  The  Senate,  more 
closely  divided,  refused.  " So  ends,"  said  The  World,  "the 
chief  tariff-reform  work  of  the  session.  Only  a  Republican 
President  and  an  occasional  Senator  stand  between  the 
people  and  their  relief  from  excessive  taxation  on  the  cost 
of  living.  The  issue  is  clear.  If  the  people  want  relief 
they  know  just  how  to  vote  to  get  it." 

If  The  World  was  compelled  to  criticize  President  Taft 
for  his  position  upon  the  tariff  issue  it  was  his  foremost 
supporter  for  world  peace  and  arbitration,  and  for 
common-sense  trade  with  Canada. 

Arbitration  with  Great  Britain  was  no  new  word.  Our 
first  treaty  in  1783  contained  an  arbitration  clause.  So 
did  that  of  1814,  under  whose  provisions  the  Maine 
boundary  question  was  arranged  in  1828.  The  Oregon 
dispute  and  many  differences  upon  the  eternal  fisheries 


306  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

question  were  peaceably  settled  before  the  Venezuela  ex- 
plosion brought  war  near.  Instead  of  shedding  their  best 
blood  upon  that  occasion  the  countries  established  a 
friendly  understanding.  Lord  Salisbury's  bluntness  at 
the  outbreak  of  the  Spanish-American  war  in  calling 
Spain  a  decadent  nation  shocked  diplomatists,  but  it 
showed  that  we  had  one  firm  friend  in  Europe.  On  the 
other  side,  when  the  German  Emperor  sent  his  sympa- 
thetic despatch  to  President  Kruger  during  the  Boer  war, 
when  there  was  scant  liking  for  Great  Britain  upon  the 
Continent  and  when  in  America  Boer  sympathizers  were 
many,  President  Roosevelt  kept  the  diplomatic  attitude 
of  our  State  Department  scrupulously  correct;  and  the 
war  bonds  issued  by  Sir  Michael  Hicks  Beach  were 
largely  subscribed  in  Wall  street. 

No  public  act  of  recent  years  gave  The  World  more 
satisfaction  than  the  signing  in  the  East  Room  of  the 
White  House  on  August  3,  1911,  of  a  treaty  to  insure  per- 
petual peace  between  the  two  nations  through  an  agree- 
ment to  submit  all  differences  to  arbitral  process.  Said 
The  World: 

At  the  same  time  a  similar  treaty  between  France  and  the 
United  States  will  be  signed  in  the  Foreign  Ministry  in  Paris. 
Both  treaties  have  yet  to  be  ratified,  but  it  is  scarcely  con- 
ceivable that  the  hope  of  humanity  will  be  dashed  by  any 
failure  to  take  this  final  step. 

This,  therefore,  is  a  memorable  day  in  the  history  of  three 
great  nations.  To  The  World  it  brings  the  welcome  fruit  of 
ceaseless  agitation  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  to  the 
end  that  wanton  slaughter  and  destruction  shall  no  longer  be 
invoked  in  the  settlement  of  international  disputes. 

Ex-President  Roosevelt  did  not  make  easier  the  path 
of  peace  by  repeating  that  the  ratification  of  the  treaties 
by  the  Senate  would  amount  to  "  unctuous  and  odious 
hypocrisy."  He  leveled  this  charge  of  bad  faith  not  only 


WILLIAM    HOWARD    TAFT         307 

at  the  President,  but  at  the  Prime  Ministers  and  Cabinets 
of  Great  Britain  and  France,  who  advocated  the  treaties. 

This  splendid  movement  was  finally  blocked  by  the  in- 
sistence of  the  Senate  upon  its  right  to  be  consulted  afresh 
upon  every  question  arising  between  the  two  countries— 
an  insistence  that  seemed  to  clash  with  any  proposal  to 
settle  questions  automatically  by  general  procedure. 

Said  The  World  of  this  Bourbonism : 

No  treaties  are  required  to  bring  nations  into  an  arbitration 
of  questions  which  they  are  always  mutually  willing  to  arbitrate 
at  the  time  of  a  dispute.  What  these  treaties  sought  to  do 
was  to  create  an  obligation  to  arbitrate  a  broad  or  justiciable 
class  of  questions  which  they  might  not  be  willing  to  arbitrate 
in  the  heat  of  controversy.  So  provision  was  made  for  joint 
high  commissions  of  both  parties  to  interpret  disputed  points 
and  determine  the  arbitral  character  of  issues  arising. 

The  Senate  strikes  out  this  vital  provision.  It  adds  others 
for  the  further  emasculation  of  the  proposed  conventions. 
And  then  in  solemn  mockery  it  adopts  the  Lodge  resolution 
which  was  intended  to  overcome  the  objections  thus  enforced. . . . 

It  is  not  the  Taft  Administration  which  the  Senate  has 
injured.  It  is  the  Senate  itself. 

It  is  not  the  President  who  has  been  betrayed,  it  is  a  great 
cause  of  civilization. 

Reciprocity  fared  as  badly  as  the  arbitration  treaties, 
but  in  this  matter  it  was  not  the  United  States  but 
Canada  that  took  an  unprogressive  attitude. 

Blaine  and  Dingley  reciprocity  had  been  accepted  by 
the  Republicans  as  attempts  to  quiet  public  displeasure 
at  tariff  exactions.  They  were  not  meant  to  be  put  into 
effect.  With  Mr.  Taft  in  the  Presidential  chair  working 
for  a  trade  arrangement  with  Canada  real  reciprocity 
once  more  seemed  possible.  The  World  seconded  him. 
The  five-column  editorial  of  April  3,  1911,  and  its  briefer 
successors,  entitled  "  Hundreds  of  Facts  in  Favor  of 
Reciprocity,"  had  much  to  do  with  strengthening  the 


308  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

sentiment  among  Democrats  which  made  possible  the 
passage  of  legislation  providing  for  a  reciprocity  arrange- 
ment. Of  that  triumph  of  common  sense  The  World 
said  on  July  23,  1911: 

The  measure  passed  the  Republican  House  of  Representa- 
tives February  14th  by  a  vote  of  221  to  92,  but  failed  to  secure 
Senate  concurrence  in  the  dying  Congress.  Foreseeing  this 
The  World  in  its  articles  headed  "Give  Us  an  Extra  Session, 
Mr.  Taft,"  named  Reciprocity  and  lower  taxation  of  neces- 
saries as  the  two  great  reasons  for  calling  the  new  Congress 
together.  .  .  . 

Early  in  the  fray  the  wolves  of  Privilege  donned  their  sheep- 
skin robes  and  went  hot-foot  to  Washington  to  stop  Reciprocity. 
.  .  .  On  the  Canadian  side  there  was  the  same  alignment  of 
abhorrent  and  hypocritical  forces.  But  there  it  was  chiefly 
the  railroad  man  and  not  the  manufacturer  who  donned 
the  farmer's  clothes  to  oppose  friendly  relations;  he  argued 
that  there  is  more  money  in  hauling  goods  a  thousand 
miles  from  east  to  west  than  in  letting  them  take  the  shorter 
path.  .  .  . 

The  "defenders  of  Empire"  mixed  mischievously  in  the 
struggle,  and  from  London  and  Montreal  came  prophecies  of 
annexation  and  British  dismemberment.  .  .  .  The  press  of 
both  countries  refused  to  be  buncoed.  And  talk  of  Empire 
failed,  as  everything  had  failed,  to  stem  the  tide. 

A  tide,  in  truth,  it  is;  a  great,  unyielding  force  and  fact  of 
nature  that  no  Mrs.  Partington  with  her  broom  can  hold  at 
bay.  The  glacial  drift  that  ground  and  grooved  its  broad 
paths  down  the  continent  decreed  ages  ago  that  trade  shall 
forever  pass  north  and  south  over  short  ways  in  level  valleys 
or  on  the  friendly  lakes  rather  than  toil  over  heavy  moun- 
tain grades  for  twice  the  distance  east  and  west.  .  .  .  Some 
day  we  shall  be  wise  enough  to  see  that  New  York  has 
no  more  need  of  a  tariff  against  Canada  than  against  Penn- 
sylvania. 

Between  the  United  States  and  Canada  there  lies  the  longest 
"unscientific  boundary'7  in  the  world;  the  longest  line  between 
nations  not  made  or  marked  by  natural  obstacles.  Yet  soon 


WILLIAM    HOWARD    TAFT         309 

we  are  to  celebrate  the  one-hundredth  anniversary  of  unbroken 
peace  along  that  boundary.  We  trust  that  the  newer  and 
closer  relations  which  it  now  rests  with  her  to  conclude  will 
forward  and  prosper  Canada  greatly  in  the  swift  industrial 
development  for  which  she  looks  in  the  twentieth  century. 

The  battle  was  not  won.  The  arrangement — in  form 
it  was  not  a  treaty  but  an  agreement  for  legislation,  since 
our  House  of  Representatives  wished  to  preserve  its  right 
to  initiate  revenue  laws — was  repudiated  by  Canada  after 
the  Liberal  party  had  been  overthrown  in  a  hot  political 
campaign. 

The  World  also  gratefully  reviewed  Mr.  Taft's  moderate 
position  upon  the  proper  relation  to  the  federal  government 
of  the  great  corporations,  and  in  the  early  summer  of 
1909  thus  summed  up  the  case  for  Government  regulation 
so  far  as  it  had  gone: 

No  corporation-tax  law  should  be  enacted  which  leaves  the 
matter  of  publicity  to  the  discretion  of  any  Federal  official, 
whether  President  or  department  clerk.  This  country  has  had 
enough  personal  government. 

The  act  of  February  26, 1903,  creating  the  Bureau  of  Corpora- 
tions, provided  that  the  information  obtained  through  its 
investigations,  "or  as  much  as  the  President  may  direct,  shall 
be  made  public."  What  has  been  the  result?  Corporations 
have  been  investigated  when  it  suited  the  whim  of  the  President 
to  have  them  investigated.  Information  has  been  made 
public  when  it  suited  his  purposes  to  make  it  public.  .  .  . 
There  is  lodged  with  the  President  of  the  United  States  the  most 
powerful  instrument  of  favoritism  and  oppression  known  to 
free  government. 

Not  only  in  his  views  upon  corporation  law  did  Presi- 
dent Taft  use  to  public  advantage  his  judicial  training. 
His  knowledge  of  the  workings  of  the  United  States 
courts  and  of  many  of  the  men  engaged  in  them  enabled 
him  to  make  judicial  selections  of  the  highest  quality. 
This  counted  heavily  in  the  fair  words  The  World  paid 


310  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

his  administration  as  its  rightful  due  on  November  7, 1912, 
two  days  after  he  was  so  crushingly  defeated  at  the  polls: 

History  will  deal  much  more  sympathetically  with  Mr. 
Taft  than  did  the  popular  majority  at  the  polls,  and  its  verdict 
will  not  be  long  delayed.  .  .  . 

As  President  Mr.  Taft  will  leave  a  record  of  many  triumphs 
and  a  single  conspicuous  and  fatal  blunder.  He  has  been  a 
constitutional  magistrate,  governing  by  law  and  not  by  caprice. 
He  has  given  us  the  greatest  Supreme  Court  since  the  days 
of  Marshall  and  Story.  He  was  the  first  President  to  enforce 
the  criminal  clauses  of  the  Sherman  law.  He  has  urged  the 
reform  of  judicial  procedure.  He  has  powerfully  supported 
the  cause  of  arbitration.  He  has  worked  for  reciprocity.  He 
has  suppressed  jingoism.  He  has  promoted  civil-service 
reform.  He  brought  about  the  corporation  tax.  He  has  had 
regard  for  economy. 

Mr.  Taft's  stumbling-block  has  been  the  tariff.  He  signed 
the  Payne-Aldrich  bill  which  he  should  have  vetoed,  and  he 
vetoed  the  non-partisan  bills  reducing  the  cost  of  living  which 
he  should  have  signed.  No  doubt  he  deserved  punishment  for 
these  errors,  but  not  at  the  hands  of  men  calling  themselves 
high-tariff  Republicans,  not  at  the  hands  of  States  like  Pennsyl- 
vania, not  at  the  hands  of  industrial  oligarchies  like  Rhode  Island. 

Not  to  Mr.  Taft  alone  but  to  the  better  deeds  of  the 
great  party  he  worthily  represented  The  World  again  paid 
tribute  of  praise  on  March  3,  1913,  the  day  before  he  was 
to  yield  office  to  President  Wilson.  In  these  words  it 
described  the  "Rocks  that  Wrecked  a  Party": 

Sixteen  years  ago,  with  William  McKinley  at  its  head,  the 
Republican  party  was  restored  to  power.  It  has  been  supreme 
in  all  departments  of  government  during  that  time  except 
for  the  last  two  years  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  It 
carried  four  national  elections  by  tremendous  pluralities.  It 
polled  in  1908  for  William  H.  Taft  the  greatest  vote  ever  thrown 
for  a  Presidential  candidate.  It  goes  out  of  office  to-morrow  a 
third  party,  its  candidate  the  choice  of  but  two  small  States, 
its  ranks  broken,  its  leaders  implacably  hostile  to  each  other. 


WILLIAM    HOWARD    TAFT         311 

Yet  this  once  invincible  organization  has  a  wonderful  record 
of  achievement  which  its  successor  must  not  belittle.  During 
these  sixteen  years,  with  Democratic  assistance  it  is  true,  the 
Republicans  have  established  the  gold  standard,  carried  on 
the  war  with  Spain,  kept  faith  with  Cuba,  liberalized  the 
government  of  the  Philippines  and  Porto  Rico,  constructed  the 
Panama  Canal,  given  us  postal  savings  banks,  rural  free  delivery, 
the  parcel  post,  new  railroad-rate  laws  and  enlightened  labor 
laws,  extended  to  some  extent  the  principle  of  international 
arbitration,  and,  during  the  Administration  now  closing, 
enforced  vigorously  for  the  first  time  the  civil  and  criminal 
law  against  trusts. 

To  Mr.  Taft  personally  belongs  the  credit  of  upholding  in 
the  face  of  many  obstacles  ideas  of  economy  and  of  carrying 
to  success  in  Congress  his  proposition  in  favor^  of  Canadian 
reciprocity.  By  the  one  he  has  given  the  people  of  all  parties 
lessons  of  lasting  value,  we  hope,  on  the  subject  of  governmental 
extravagance.  By  the  other  he  conducted  a  campaign  of 
education  against  the  folly  and  waste  of  tariff  wars  between 
neighboring  nations  which  cannot  fail  to  add  much  to  public 
enlightenment.  His  most  notable  error,  to  which  may  be 
traced  most  of  his  own  and  his  party's  troubles,  was  his  failure 
to  veto  the  Payne-Aldrich  bill  and  his  later  refusal  to  co-operate 
with  Democrats  and  Republicans  in  Congress  to  revise  the 
tariff  downward,  as  he  had  promised.  It  was  these  blunders 
that  split  his  party,  gave  free  rein  to  Theodore  Roosevelt's 
overmastering  ambition  and  brought  about  his  crushing  defeat. 

Reduced  to  the  fewest  terms,  therefore,  the  fate  of  the 
Republican  party  may  be  attributed  to  privilege,  plutocracy, 
and  personal  government.  These  are  the  rocks  on  which  it 
went  to  pieces.  .  .  . 

Democrats  may  study  this  record  with  profit.  They  will 
find  much  to  emulate  and  not  a  little  to  avoid.  They  also  have 
their  stand-patters  and  plutocrats.  They  also  have  their  tur- 
bulent leaders,  eager  for  power  and  crazy  for  violence.  The 
forces  that  have  humiliated  the  Republicans  in  spite  of  much 
good  service  will  unfailingly  undo  the  Democrats,  if  given 
the  upper  hand. 


XXII 

THE   LONG  BATTLE   FOR  REFORM 

1880-1912 

Indiana  in  1880 — Vice-President  Arthur  and  "Soap" — "Frying  the  Fat" 
in  1888 — "Floaters"  in  "Blocks  of  Five "— Corruption  Stirs  the  States  to 
Action — The  Silver  Campaign  Fund  in  1896 — Mark  Hanna  and  Hannaism 
— Trust  Contributions  in  1904 — Harriman's  $260,000  and  "Where  do  I 
Stand?" — The  Standard  Oil  Contribution  not  Sent  Back,  as  President  Roose- 
velt Ordered — Ryan  and  Belmont's  Vast  Gifts — Cleaner  Fighting  in  1908 — 
Passage  of  Federal  Corrupt  Practices  Acts. 

WHEN  the  plot  to  buy  the  vote  of  Indiana  in  the  Presi- 
dential campaign  of  1880  was  already  hatched  Joseph 
Pulitzer  said  on  October  9th  in  a  speech  in  Indianapolis: 

We  want  prosperity,  but  not  at  the  expense  of  liberty. 
Poverty  is  not  as  great  a  danger  to  liberty  as  wealth,  with  its 
corrupting,  demoralizing  influences.  Suppose  all  the  influences 
I  have  just  reviewed  [banks,  railroads  and  protected  industries] 
were  to  take  their  hands  off  instead  of  supporting  the  Republican 
party,  would  it  have  a  ghost  of  a  chance  of  success? 

Let  us  have  prosperity,  but  never  at  the  expense  of  liberty, 
neverat  the  expense  of  real  self-government,  and  let  us  never 
have  a  government  at  Washington  owing  its  retention  to  the 
power  of  the  millionaires  rather  than  to  the  will  of  the  millions. 

The  " power  of  the  millionaires"  prevailed.  When, 
three  years  later,  Mr.  Pulitzer  assumed  the  editorship  of 
The  World,  money  control  hung  like  a  cloud  over  the 
country.  The  President  of  the  United  States,  Garfield 
having  been  murdered,  was  the  Chester  A.  Arthur  who, 


THE  BATTLE  FOR  REFORM   313 

when  Vice-President-elect,  had  said  at  a  banquet  to  S.  W. 
Dorsey  in  New  York  City  on  February  11,  1881: 

Indiana  was  really,  I  suppose,  a  Democratic  State.  It  had  always 
been  put  down  in  the  book  as  a  State  that  might  be  carried  by  close 
and  careful  and  perfect  organization,  and  a  great  deal  of —  [here  the 
speaker  paused  a  moment  while  somebody  interjected  "soap." 
Laughter,]  I  see  the  reporters  are  here  and,  therefore,  I  will  simply 
say  that  everybody  showed  a  great  deal  of  interest  in  the  occasion 
and  distributed  tracts  and  political  documents  all  through  the  country. 
[Laughter.]  .  .  . 

The  gentlemen  in  New  York  who  stood  at  the  back  of  the  national 
Committee  responded  so  liberally  to  the  demands  of  the  committee 
that  Mr.  Dorsey,  with  his  matchless  skill,  cool  head  and  wonderful 
courage  was  able  to  save  not  merely  Indiana,  and  through  it  the 
State  of  New  York,  but  the  nation. 

Two  years  later  Dorsey  was  telling  how  the  Indiana 
campaign  of  1880  was  managed.  He  had  nearly  five 
thousand  aids  in  buying  the  state.  "Each  of  these  men 
reported  what  they  could  do  ...  and  how  much  it  would 
take  to  influence  people  to  a  change  of  thought.  We  paid 
twenty  dollars  to  some  and  as  high  as  seventy-five  dol- 
lars to  others,  but  we  took  care  that  the  three  men  from 
every  township  should  know  just  what  each  got.  There 
was  no  chance  for  ' nigging." 

It  was  under  such  conditions  that  The  World  began  its 
long  fight  thirty  years  ago  against  practices  of  corruption. 
It  scouted  the  notion  that  "the  great  burning  question 
of  the  day  is  that  our  clerks  shall  be  able  to  pass  examina- 
tions in  fractions  or  geography."  Electoral  reform  was 
the  need.  We  must  protect  the  ballot-box  "against  the 
open  violence  of  the  ruffian  and  against  the  subtler  vio- 
lence of  the  corruptionist." 

The  arts  of  the  briber  failed  to  stay  the  election  of 
Grover  Cleveland  in  1884,  the  young  efforts  of  The  World 
proving  to  be  the  decisive  power.  The  corruptionists 
did  not  look  for  the  defeat  and  were  taken  unawares. 

They  made  no  such  mistake  in  1888. 
21 


314  THE    STORY   OF    A   PAGE 

On  May  25,  1888,  President  James  P.  Foster  of  the 
Republican  League  sent  out  a  letter  saying  that  manu- 
facturers enriched  by  protection  were  laggard  in  con- 
tributing. He  added  a  phrase  that  became  famous:  "If 
I  had  my  way  about  it  I  would  put  the  manufacturers  of 
Pennsylvania  under  the  fire  and  fry  all  the  fat  out  of 
them."  Foster's  letter  closed  with  the  remark:  "If  you 
give  us  the  means  to  win  the  victory  we  will  do  it.  Are 
you  willing?" 

On  October  24th  Col.  W.  W.  Dudley,  Treasurer  of 
the  Republican  National  Committee,  showed  how  the 
"means"  were  to  be  applied.  He  sent  out  this  confiden- 
tial advice  on  the  handling  of  purchased  votes:  "Divide 
the  floaters  into  blocks  of  five  and  put  a  trusted  man  with 
necessary  funds  in  charge  of  these  five  and  make  him  re- 
sponsible that  none  get  away  and  that  all  vote  our  ticket." 

The  election  was  very  close.  Corruption  decided  it. 
Money  elected  Harrison,  though  Cleveland  had  a  plurality 
of  the  popular  vote.  Classic  among  American  editorial 
articles  was  that  which  The  World  printed  under  the  title 
of  "Triumphant  Plutocracy"  on  March  4,  1889,  the  day 
when  Benjamin  Harrison  took  seat  in  the  White  House 
to  which  the  stained  title  of  purchase  admitted  him: 

To-day  at  the  capital  of  this  Republic  founded  by  a  free 
people,  Money  seals  and  celebrates  its  triumph  in  the  election. 
.  .  .  What  is  the  remedy? 

There  can  be  no  cure  for  these  evils  that  does  not  proceed 
from  an  enroused  and  imperative  public  opinion.  It  is  the 
dreadful  inertia  of  indifference  that  must  first  be  overcome. 

There  is  a  work  for  the  pulpit.  Where  sleep  the  thunders 
of  righteous  condemnation  that  rolled  from  the  pulpit  against 
human  slavery?  If  the  will  of  the  people  be  the  will  of  God, 
is  not  a  crime  against  the  suffrage  a  concern  of  religion? 

It  is  a  work  for  the  press.  Public  opinion  will  never  be 
aroused  against  corruption  by  the  politicians.  They  will  not 
quarrel  with  their  trade.  .  .  . 


THE  BATTLE  FOR  REFORM   315 

The  State  can  apply  a  remedy  by  providing  ballots  and  protecting 
the  voters  in  secrecy  in  casting  them,  and  by  limiting  the  expenses 
of  campaigns,  and  by  requiring  publicity  to  expenditures,  as  has 
been  done  with  such  good  results  in  England. 

An  official  statement  prepared  for  the  Senate  in  1908 
enumerated  nineteen  states  and  territories  that  then 
had  laws  for  the  publicity  of  election  contributions  or 
expenditures.  These  were,  with  the  dates  of  enactment, 
New  York,  1890;  Colorado,  1891;  Massachusetts,  1892; 
Alabama,  California,  and  Virginia,  1893;  Arizona,  Con- 
necticut, and  Minnesota,  1895;  Nebraska  and  Wisconsin, 
1897;  South  Carolina,  1905;  Pennsylvania,  1906;  Iowa 
and  Washington,  1907.  In  1897,  also,  Florida,  Kentucky, 
and  Tennessee  passed  laws  forbidding  corporations  to 
contribute;  but  without  publicity  acts  these  prohibitions 
were  ineffective. 

With  the  passage  of  these  earlier  acts  came  Australian- 
ballot  laws  in  many  states,  which  made  corruption  hazar- 
dous by  rendering  it  harder  to  be  sure  that  the  purchased 
voter  "  stayed  bought."  But  the  nation  still  took  no  step 
to  end  corruption  in  federal  elections.  Meanwhile  the 
scandal  was  recurrent  at  every  general  election.  Not  all 
the  arts  of  bribery  could  prevent  Cleveland's  election  in 
1892.  But  then  came  1896  and  the  silver  issue. 

Always  since  the  war  the  heaviest  purse  had  been  on 
the  side  of  the  protected  manufacturer  in  national  elec- 
tions, though  in  local  contests  neither  party  excelled  in 
unscrupulousness.  The  silver  issue  brought  to  Mr. 
Bryan's  aid  a  competitive  Democratic  campaign  fund 
given  mainly  by  Marcus  Daly,  Senator  Clarke,  and  other 
silver-mining  magnates  of  the  mountain  states.  Mark 
Hanna  and  his  supporters,  many  of  whom  were  more 
moved  by  fear  of  financial  panic  than  by  interest  in 
tariffs,  put  into  use  the  largest  corruption  fund  yet  gath- 
ered, none  of  which  was  wasted  by  the  shrewd  business 


316  THE    STORY   OF   A   PAGE 

man  who  conducted  the  McKinley  campaign  as  if  it  had 
been  a  factory  or  a  mine. 

What  was  the  total  thus  gathered?  No  one  knows. 
No  record  was  ever  made  public.  The  outrage  was  this: 
that  corruption  was  paid  for  in  the  dark;  that  the 
people  whose  rights  and  power  were  bought  and  sold 
could  not  even  know  who  paid  the  price;  that  they  could 
only  infer  how  this  price  was  repaid  in  turn. 

The  situation  was  not  greatly  different  in  1900;  and  so 
we  come  to  1904.  A  means  of  "  frying  the  fat "  which  out- 
Fostered  Foster's  wildest  dreams  had  now  been  provided 
in  the  Bureau  of  Corporations,  whose  researches  were 
conducted  in  secret  and  whose  conclusions  were  disclosed 
only  to  the  President.  As  late  as  1911  its  reports  were 
refused  even  to  an  investigating  committee  of  the  House 
of  Representatives. 

When  George  B.  Cortelyou,  who  as  Secretary  of  Com- 
merce and  Labor  had  oversight  of  the  Bureau  of  Cor- 
porations, was  made  Chairman  of  the  Republican  Nation- 
al Committee  charged  with  the  re-election  of  Theodore 
Roosevelt,  "financial  leaders"  knew  what  was  expected. 
Early  in  the  campaign  and  at  frequent  intervals  in  the 
course  of  that  struggle  The  World  asked  the  famous  Ten 
Questions  already  quoted.  No  answer  was  ever  vouch- 
safed by  Mr.  Roosevelt  or  by  Mr.  Cortelyou.  Yet  the 
questions  were  by  degrees  answered  in  the  current  news; 
in  the  revelations  of  disappointed  conspirators  for  profit; 
in  the  inquisitions  of  courts;  in  state  and  national  in- 
vestigations. 

Most  of  the  records  are  destroyed,  and  no  scrutiny  of 
the  funds  in  the  original  entries  is  possible.  But  we  know 
that  the  Beef  Trust  contributed  to  the  Roosevelt  cam- 
paign fund,  though  we  do  not  know  the  sum. 

That  the  Insurance  Trust  contributed  was  proved  in  the 
Hughes  investigation.  Without  knowledge  or  consent 
of  their  policyholders  the  Mutual  Life  gave  $50,000,  the 


THE  BATTLE  FOR  REFORM   317 

Equitable  $50,000,  and  the  New  York  Life  $48,702.50 
through  George  W.  Perkins. 

The  Coal  Trust  and  the  Railroad  and  Banking  trusts 
were  represented  in  funds  gathered  in  New  York  and 
Philadelphia. 

The  Steel  Trust  contributed  not  only  in  1904  but  in 
1906.  The  Harvester  Trust,  a  child  of  the  Steel  Trust, 
was  favored  by  the  Roosevelt  Administration.  Permis- 
sion to  the  Steel  Trust  to  absorb  the  Tennessee  Coal  and 
Iron  Company  in  1907,  in  violation  of  the  anti-trust  act, 
was  avowed  and  defended  by  Mr.  Roosevelt. 

There  lingers  unanswered  from  these  revelations  the 
question  how  much  Mr.  Roosevelt  knew  of  corporation 
contributions  when  he  denied  Judge  Parker's  charges. 
That  he  knew  of  certain  donations  is  admitted.  Con- 
troversy is  keenest  about  the  fund  raised  by  E.H.  Harri- 
man  and  about  the  Standard  Oil  contributions. 

By  the  publication  in  The  World  on  April  2,  1907,  of 
a  letter  from  Edward  H.  Harriman  to  Sydney  Webster 
it  became  known  that  Mr.  Harriman  had  raised  $260,000 
in  1904  for  Roosevelt,  to  be  expended  in  New  York  State. 
Harriman  understood  that  for  this  money  Senator  Depew 
was  to  be  made  an  Ambassador,  Frank  Black  was  to  be- 
come Senator  in  his  stead  and  Harriman  was  to  be  con- 
sulted upon  railroad  recommendations  in  President 
Roosevelt's  message.  None  of  these  arrangements  was 
carried  out,  and  Harriman  asked  Webster,  "Where  do  I 
stand?" 

There  is  no  proof  beyond  Harriman's  word  that  Presi- 
dent Roosevelt  asked  Harriman  to  raise  a  fund.  There 
is  proof  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  asked  Harriman  to  the  White 
House,  for  upon  his  denying  that  fact  Harriman  produced 
the  invitation.  There  is  no  proof  that  Treasurer  Bliss 
received  assurances  from  Mr.  Roosevelt  as  to  the  treat- 
ment he  would  accord  Harriman.  Probably  he  did  not. 
That  was  made  unnecessary  by  the  code  of  politics.  Long 


318  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

afterward  Senator  Platt  explained  upon  the  witness-stand 
that  campaign  contributions  established  "a  moral  obliga- 
tion." 

Harriman  raised  the  money.  He  wrote  to  Webster 
that  his  fund  had  " turned  fifty  thousand  votes"  in  New 
York.  That  he  supposed  he  had  an  understanding  with 
the  President  he  gave  proof  by  offering  to  return  to  the 
contributors  of  his  special  offering  the  money  they  had 
given,  since  the  conditions  had  not  been  fulfilled.  None 
of  them  cared  to  be  reimbursed  at  Harriman's  expense. 

The  facts  about  the  Standard  Oil  contributions  came 
out  more  slowly.  During  the  campaign  of  1904  it  was 
said  that  the  company  had  contributed  $100,000  to  the 
Roosevelt  fund.  On  October  25th  S.  C.  T.  Dodd,  counsel 
of  the  company,  stated  that  it  had  taken  no  part  in 
politics  or  in  securing  the  nomination  of  any  candidate. 
He  did  not  deny  that  money  had  been  contributed. 
The  next  day  Mr.  Roosevelt  wrote  Mr.  Cortelyou,  refer- 
ring to  the  Standard  Oil  Company's  reported  gift  of 
$100,000,  and  ordered  that  if  any  such  sum  had  been  con- 
tributed it  should  be  sent  back.  To  like  effect  he  wrote 
again  on  October  27th  and  telegraphed  two  days  later. 
The  money  had  been  received  in  September  and; spent. 
It  was  not  sent  back. 

Eight  years  after  1904  the  leaders  of  the  riven  Re- 
publican party,  denounced  by  Mr.  Roosevelt  as  "  high  way 
robbers,"  were  not  averse  to  revealing  the  secrets  of  the 
Roosevelt-Cortelyou  fund.  From  the  testimony  of  John 
D.  Archbold,  of  the  Standard  Oil;  of  J.  Pierpont  Morgan; 
of  George  R.  Sheldon,  who  succeeded  Cornelius  N.  Bliss 
as  Treasurer  of  the  Republican  National  Committee;  of 
Elmer  Dover,  an  employee  of  the  Committee,  and  others, 
many  facts  were  elicited  by  the  Clapp  Senatorial  Com- 
mittee. 

The  Standard  Oil  contribution  of  1904  was  paid  in  cash, 
handed  personally  by  Mr.  Archbold  to  Treasurer  Bliss. 


THE  BATTLE  FOR  REFORM   319 

Beside  this  $100,000  Mr.  Archbold  gave  $25,000  to 
Senator  Penrose  for  use  in  Pennsylvania.  Before  giving 
the  $100,000  Archbold  insisted  that  Bliss  should  assure 
him  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  would  "  appreciate  "  the  help,  and 
would  not  be  radical  in  treating  the  tariff.  Mr.  Bliss 
afterward  begged  for  $150,000  more,  and  when  refused 
intimated  that  Archbold  was  making  a  mistake.  Later, 
when  the  administration  was  prosecuting  the  Standard 
Oil  Company,  Archbold  reproached  Bliss,  who  replied 
that  he  had  no  influence  with  the  President. 

Did  Mr.  Bliss  let  President  Roosevelt  know  that 
Standard  Oil  had  contributed  the  $100,000,  and  upon 
what  terms?  His  friends  would  accept  his  unsupported 
word;  but  he  is  dead.  Did  Mr.  Roosevelt  upon  October 
29th  or  upon  November  4th,  when  he  issued  his  denial 
of  Judge  Parker's  charge,  know  that  the  money  of  the 
Standard  Oil  had  not  been  sent  back,  could  not  be  sent 
back,  would  not  be  sent  back?  In  any  case  the  contribu- 
tion supports  Judge  Parker's  statement  as  to  the  acts  of 
the  trusts  and  the  motives  of  those  acts. 

Of  Mr.  Roosevelt's  order  that  the  Standard  Oil  money 
be  returned  the  New  York  Press,  which  supported  him  for 
President  in  1912,  remarked: 

Roosevelt  prepared  his  alibis  as  he  went  along  so  that  when  the 
time  came  he  could  show  that  he  had  ordered  the  return  of  any 
protection  money  he  knew  about,  could  prove  that  he  was  told  the 
money  had  been  returned,  and  could  demonstrate  by  the  record  and 
testimony  that  anybody  who  imagined  he  was  buying  Government 
favors  from  him  with  campaign  contributions  was  "  either  a  crook  or 
a  fool." 

What  the  Republican  campaign  fund  of  1904  amounted 
to  perhaps  no  one  living  knows.  Chairman  Cortelyou, 
examined  by  the  Clapp  Committee,  thought  it  was  less 
than  two  millions.  If  Treasurer  Bliss  thought  a  single 
trust  should  be  assessed  $250,000  this  estimate  seems  low. 
Whatever  the  sum,  it  was  in  greater  part  given  by  a  few 


320  THE    STORY    OF   A   PAGE 

men  of  wealth.  Among  the  contributions  revealed  after 
eight  years  of  denial  and  evasions,  some  of  those  of 
greatest  consequence  were: 

G.  W.  P.  (Perkins) $100,000 

G.  W.  P.  (Perkins) 250,000 

George  J.  Gould 100,000 

E.  H.  Harriman 100,000 

G.  S.  Mellen,  President .  50,000 

C.  H.  Mackay 15,000 

E.  T.  Stotesbury 136,000 

B.  T.  Wainwright 101,700 

H.  H.  R.  (Rogers)  and  J.  D.  R 100,000 

R.  F.  Rose,  International  Harvester       ....  20,000 

G.  W.  P.  (Perkins) 100,000 

J.  P.  Morgan  &  Co 100,000 

Chauncey  M.  Depew 100,000 

The  Stotesbury  contributions  were  for  the  Philadelphia 
Committee;  the  Wainwright  contributions  for  the  Pitts- 
burg  Committee.  George  V.  L.  Meyer  acted  for  the 
Boston  Committee.  James  Stillman,  of  the  National 
City  Bank  in  New  York— the  "Standard  Oil  Bank"- 
gave  several  sums  of  $5,000  each.  Depew's  money  was 
for  the  New  York  Central — and  for  his  own  menaced 
Senatorship.  Whitelaw  Reid,  Jacob  H.  Schiff,  James 
Speyer,  J.  F.  Dryden,  Andrew  Carnegie,  Roswell  Miller, 
the  Cuba  Mail  Steamship  Company,  William  Nelson 
Cromwell,  the  American  Can  Company,  Robert  Bacon, 
and  the  Clarke  Manufacturing  Company  were  among  the 
contributors. 

Finally,  the  Harriman  fund,  late  in  the  campaign, 
called  out  additional  sums  from  J.  P.  Morgan,  James  H. 
Hyde  (who  wished  to  be  Ambassador  to  France),  C.  N. 
Bliss,  James  Stillman,  E.  H.  Harriman,  H.  C.  Frick, 
D.  O.  Mills,  H.  McK.  Twombly,  E.  T.  Stotesbury,  G.  W. 
Perkins,  Jacob  H.  Schiff,  and  Isaac  Seligman.  Mr.  Frick 
stood  ready,  as  Mr.  Roosevelt  testified,  to  make  good  any 


THE  BATTLE  FOR  REFORM   321 

sum  the  Campaign  Committee  might  lose  by  returning  a 
Standard  Oil  contribution.  There  was  no  such  loss. 

Stotesbury,  Bacon,  and  Perkins  were  partners  of  J.  P. 
Morgan.  Bacon  afterward  became  Assistant  Secretary  of 
State  and  Ambassador  to  France.  Meyer  was  rewarded 
with  conspicuous  office. 

Upon  the  Democratic  side  the  situation,  as  it  was  dis- 
closed eight  years  later,  was  equally  disheartening, 
though  less  of  a  public  menace  since  smaller  sums  were 
being  spent  for  an  end  impossible.  August  Belmont  gave 
about  $250,000  and  Thomas  F.  Ryan  as  much  as  $450,000 
—the  largest  single  contribution  of  the  campaign — without 
hope  of  success,  as  he  afterward  testified,  but  with  the 
purpose  of  "holding  the  organization  together."  Of  the 
Republican  fund  seventy-three  and  one-half  per  cent., 
according  to  Treasurer  Sheldon,  was  contributed  by 
corporations  and  trust  interests.  Fully  as  large  a  pro- 
portion of  the  Democratic  fund  must  have  been  provided 
by  a  few  wealthy  men.  How  far  Judge  Parker  was  aware 
of  the  financial  operations  of  his  Campaign  Committee 
has  not  been  revealed. 

It  was  only  after  1904  that  The  World's  long  fight  for 
honest  elections  began  to  show  results  of  the  first  im- 
portance. The  real  beginning  of  any  corrupt-practice 
legislation  in  this  country  which  was  anything  more  than 
a  mere  formal  setting  forth  of  public  aspiration  for  honest 
elections  unsupported  by  penalties  for  corruption  was 
contained  in  the  insurance  code  of  the  state  of  New  York, 
forced  by  The  World's  philippics  in  1906  from  a  reluctant 
governor  and  legislature. 

Then  for  the  first  time  in  American  history  a  state  for- 
bade any  contribution  whatever  by  corporations  for  polit- 
ical purposes.  The  New  York  law  also  enforces  publicity 
of  campaign  funds  and  expenditures.  New  Jersey  passed 
in  1911,  under  Governor  Wilson's  urging,  an  act,  the  Geran 
law,  that  is  almost  a  model,  providing  for  publicity,  limit- 


322  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

ing  the  amounts  that  candidates  may  spend,  and  forbid- 
ding campaign  contributions.  Other  states  are  rapidly 
falling  into  line. 

The  shocking  insurance  disclosures  were  also  the  be- 
ginning of  forward  action  in  Washington.  They  gave 
force  to  the  sentiment  which  had  long  been  growing  there 
that  the  nation  itself  should  not  lag  behind  its  states  in 
frowning  upon  corruption;  and  in  the  early  days  of  1907 
Senator  Culberson's  proposed  amendment  to  the  railway- 
rate  bill,  providing  that  no  corporation  engaged  in  inter- 
state commerce  should  contribute  to  any  federal  cam- 
paign fund,  and  the  Tillman  bill,  forbidding  national 
banks  to  make  such  gifts,  were  combined  in  the  law  of 
January  26th,  which  forbids  all  corporations  to  con- 
tribute. 

The  campaign  of  1908  was  an  improvement  in  decency 
upon  all  its  predecessors  since  the  Civil  War.  Said  The 
World  on  October  10th: 

For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  American  politics,  the 
sources  of  a  National  Committee's  campaign  fund  have  been 
voluntarily  disclosed.  This  action  marks  the  beginning  of  a 
new  era.  .  .  .  When  George  R.  Sheldon  was  made  Treasurer 
of  the  Republican  National  Committee  he  declared  that  in- 
asmuch as  he  was  a  resident  of  this  State  the  publicity  laws 
of  New  York  would  apply  to  the  Republican  campaign  fund. 
That  act  requires  a  sworn  statement  of  expenditures  as  well 
as  of  receipts.  Herman  Ridder  having  been  elected  Treasurer 
of  the  Democratic  Committee  to  succeed  Governor  Haskell,  the 
publicity  laws  of  New  York  apply  to  him  as  well  as  to  Mr. 
Sheldon. 

So  publicity  in  a  national  election  was  practically  forced 
upon  the  campaign  treasurers  of  both  parties  by  the  laws 
of  a  single  state. 

The  Rucker  bill,  passed  by  Congress  in  August,  1911, 
was  the  next  step.  This  provides  for  publicity  of  cam- 


THE  BATTLE  FOR  REFORM   323 

paign  funds  and  limits  the  amounts  that  may  be  spent  in 
Congressional  elections.  It  was  during  its  energetic  ad- 
vocacy of  the  bill  that  The  World  received  from  ex- Judge 
Parker  this  letter,  which  it  printed  with  comment : 

PUT  THEM  IN  JAIL 
To  THE  EDITOR  OF  THE  WORLD. 

Your  editorial  of  yesterday  served  to  remind  me  of  the  masterful 
campaign  you  have  waged  for  years  against  the  corrupt  use  of  money 
at  the  polls. 

Others,  at  the  outset  in  sympathy  with  the  movement,  either  grew 
weary  after  a  time,  or  else  jumped,  as  does  the  trout  at  the  angler's 
fly,  at  the  new  "isms"  dangled  before  the  people  that  the  truth  might 
not  be  seen,  and  understood. 

But  The  World  never  faltered,  and  for  this  effective  service  as  to  the 
most  important  of  all  latter-day  public  questions  the  people  owe  you 
a  debt  that  can  never  be  measured. 

Yet  I  venture  to  ask  you  to  continue  your  work  until  the  act  of 
Jan.  26,  1907,  be  so  amended  as  to  provide  imprisonment  for  the 
officers  of  corporations  devoting  corporate  funds  to  political  ends. 

The  act  imposes  a  fine. 

The  punishment  was  not  intended  to  hinder  contributions. 

It  was  intended  to  deceive  the  general  public,  not  the  corporation 
bargainer  with  government  for  the  right  to  levy  toll  upon  the  people. 
To  him  the  act  was  to,  and  does,  mean:  "Contribute  if  you  wish,  for 
the  only  risk  you  run  is  a  possible  fine,  which  you  can  take  out  of  the 
corporate  treasury  as  easily  as  you  took  out  the  contribution." 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

ALTON  B.  PARKER. 
ROSEMOUNT,  Esopus-ON-THE-HuDSON,  August  15, 1911. 

Judge  Parker  is  right.  *  The  law  should  provide  that  the 
"corporation  bargainer  with  government  for  the  right  to  levy 
toll  upon  the  people"  must  go  to  jail;  and  to  that  end  the  true 
friends  of  honest  elections  will  continue  their  efforts. 

Nor  need  they  despair  of  soon  achieving  success,  seeing  how 
great  an  advance  has  been  made,  in  the  seven  years  since  the 
crowning  debauchery  of  1904,  in  repressing  the  purchase  of 
elections. 

Little  need  be  said  of  campaign  funds  in  1912.  They 
were  of  modest  size  compared  with  those  furnished  during 


324  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

so  many  campaigns.  The  combined  expenditures  of  the 
three  parties  were  probably  not  far  from  the  sum  spent 
by  the  Republicans  alone  in  1904. 

The  Democrats  had  the  largest  provision,  91,000  per- 
sons contributing  $1,100,000.  There  was  a  substantial 
residue  not  spent. 

The  Progressive  fund  amounted  to  $790,682,  as  ac- 
counted for  under  the  laws  of  New  York,  including  money 
given  by  the  National  Committee  to  the  State  Committee 
in  that  state,  but  not  funds  in  other  states;  and  here 
again  was  a  surplus.  Something  like  $700,000  was  also 
used  before  the  Republican  national  convention,  as 
testified  to  before  the  Clapp  Committee,  in  the  vain 
attempt  to  secure  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Roosevelt  on 
the  Republican  ticket.  George  W.  Perkins  gave  $122,- 
500  to  the  earlier  fund,  $130,000  to  the  later,  and  $10,000 
for  New  York;  a  total  of  $262,500.  Frank  A.  Munsey 
gave  $118,000  to  the  pre-convention  fund,  $112,250  to 
the  campaign  fund  proper,  and  $10,000  in  New  York;  a 
total  of  $240,250.  Dan  Hanna  gave  $177,000  to  the  pre- 
convention  fund. 

The  Republican  National  Committee  reported  the  re- 
ceipt of  $904,828,  and  again  a"  surplus.  The  largest  con- 
tributor was  President  Taft's  brother,  Charles  P.  Taft, 
who  gave  $150,000.  J.  P.  Morgan  &  Co.  and  Andrew 
Carnegie  put  in  $25,000  each,  and  other  contributions 
seem  to  have  been  scaled  down  to  modest  figures. 

The  laws  governing  the  use  of  money  in  campaigns 
are  still  far  from  perfect.  There  are  loopholes;  evasion 
is  possible;  enforcement  has  not  always  teeth;  penalties 
for  infraction  are  often  slight.  But  a  revolutionary  ad- 
vance has  been  made  in  thirty  years,  The  World  aiding  it 
by  a  fight  that  has  been  continuous  from  the  day  of  its 
birth. 


XXIII 

AGAIN   MR.    ROOSEVELT 

1881-1911 

The  Early  Career  of  a  Great  Politician — Mr,  Roosevelt  and  the  Edmunds 
Campaign — He  Leaves  the  Independents  to  Support  Elaine — His  Troubled 
Presidency  —  Congress  and  the  Secret  Service  Moneys  —  The  Roosevelt 
Corporation  Policy — uThe  World"  Nominates  Him  for  Senator — His 
Trip  to  Africa — Rushing  to  Defeat  in  the  Stimson  Campaign — Governor 
Dix's  Vari-colored  Administration — The  Birth  of  the  Progressive  Move- 
ment— Mr.  Roosevelt  Takes  Possession. 

IN  the  autumn  of  1881  a  slender  young  man  of  nervous 
temperament  wearing  eye-glasses  and  a  moustache  with 
side-whiskers  was  elected  to  the  New  York  Assembly  as 
a  reforming  Republican.  He  quickly  became  promi- 
nent and  was  intrusted  with  the  chairmanship  of  a 
legislative  committee  to  investigate  conditions  in  New 
York  City. 

In  1884  Theodore  Roosevelt  appeared  as  one  of  the 
delegates-at-large  at  the  National  Convention,  where  he 
was  active  in  urging  Senator  Edmunds  of  Vermont  for 
the  Presidency.  Blaine  was  chosen.  A  conference  of 
Edmunds  men  was  called  in  New  York,  and  such  leaders 
as  Carl  Schurz  and  George  William  Curtis  repudiated 
Blaine  and  Logan  as  unfit,  and  resolved  that  "it  is  our 
conviction  that  the  country  will  be  better  served  by  oppos- 
ing these  nominations  than  by  supporting  them."  Mr. 
Roosevelt,  after  some  hesitation,  said:  "I  intend  to  vote 
the  Republican  ticket.  ...  I  did  my  best  and  got  beaten, 
and  I  propose  to  stand  by  the  result. " 


326  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

Upon  Mr.  Roosevelt's  public  activities  up  to  this  point 
The  World  in  the  summer  of  1884  made  sarcastic  com- 
ment: 

Young  Mr.  Roosevelt  started  well  in  the  Legislature  as  a 
municipal  reformer.  When  he  was  turning  up  the  soil  of  our 
city  government  he  came  across  outrageous  irregularities  in 
the  Taxes  and  Assessment  Department  and  blackmail  offenses 
in  the  Surrogate's  office.  As  the  President  of  the  Tax  Depart- 
ment and  the  Surrogate  are  Republicans  young  Mr.  Roosevelt 
quickly  threw  in  the  dirt  again  and  turned  in  another  direc- 
tion.— July  24,  1884. 

The  first  necessary  step  toward  reform  in  this  city  was  to 
remove  Johnny  O'Brien,  whom  the  Tribune  had  denounced  as 
the  embodiment  of  the  most  corrupt  machine  methods,  from 
the  head  of  the  Election  Bureau.  .  .  .  We  found  that  Roosevelt 
sold  out  to  O'Brien  [and]  accepted  from  his  machine  an  election 
as  delegate-at-large  to  Chicago. 

Then  we  denounced  young  Mr.  Roosevelt  as  a  reform  fraud 
and  a  Jack-in-the-box  politician  who  disappears  whenever  his 
boss  applies  a  gentle  pressure  to  his  aspiring  head.  .  .  .  What 
an  exhibition  he  makes  of  his  reform  professions  at  the  present 
moment,  when  he  signifies  his  intention  to  seek  by  his  vote  to 
elect  as  President  of  the  United  States  a  man  he  admits  to  be 
venal  and  corrupt,  and  for  whom  he  blushes  to  speak! — August 
26,  1884. 

The  World  did  not  lack  further  opportunities  to  com- 
ment upon  the  activities  of  the  young  reformer  who 
turned  politician  in  that  early  crisis  of  his  career.  It 
opposed  him  for  Mayor  in  the  Henry  George  campaign  of 
1886.  It  denounced  his  headstrong  course  as  Police 
Commissioner,  which  discredited  reform  by  assailing 
personal  liberty.  It  sustained  the  cause  he  represented 
in  the  Civil  Service  Commission.  It  opposed  his  election 
as  Governor  in  1898,  but  without  enthusiasm  for  Augustus 
Van  Wyck,  whom  Tammany  stupidity  set  up  to  check  his 
eager  onrush.  As  Governor  it  found  him  often  aiding  its 


AGAIN    MR.    ROOSEVELT  327 

policies  for  reform;  sometimes,  as  in  the  franchise-tax 
legislation,  muddling  good  causes.  It  praised  him  in 
1905  for  his  courage  in  standing  ready,  like  Cleveland,  to 
suppress  with  federal  troops  labor  riots  affecting  inter- 
state commerce,  the  mails,  and  national  property.  It 
commended  his  administration  for  dissolving  the  Northern 
Securities  merger,  and  heartily  praised  him  for  his  energy 
in  ending  the  coal-strike  menace.  It  admired  his  cour- 
age in  undertaking  to  make  peace  between  Russia  and 
Japan.  It  supported  him  when  attacked  for  having 
Booker  Washington,  a  negro,  at  luncheon  in  the  White 
House.  It  scored  his  injustice  in  dismissing  a  body  of 
negro  troops  for  the  misdeeds  of  an  unidentified  few  at 
Brownsville,  Texas. 

With  Mr.  Roosevelt's  slow  progress  as  President  in 
punishing  crimes  of  high  finance  The  World  was  soon 
dissatisfied.  In  December,  1907,  it  was  prodding  him 
for  failing  to  prosecute,  as  he  had  promised,  "  crimes  of 
cunning  no  less  than  crimes  of  violence."  Said  The 
World: 

It  was  nearly  four  years  ago  that  Judson  Harmon  and  Freder- 
ick N.  Judson,  in  their  report  to  the  President  on  the  Santa  Fe 
rebate  cases,  informed  Mr.  Roosevelt  that  guilt  is  always 
personal.  The  same  idea  is  presented  in  Woodrow  Wilson's 
plea  that  the  best  way  to  discourage  wealthy  malefactors  is  to 
send  the  one  responsible  man  to  jail.  .  .  .  Yet  in  spite  of  all 
Mr.  Roosevelt's  burning  words  about  crimes  of  cunning,  great 
railroad  wreckers  and  malefactors  of  great  wealth,  in  no  case 
has  the  one  responsible  man  been  sent  to  jail;  in  no  case  has  the 
one  responsible  man  been  criminally  prosecuted;  in  no  case  has 
the  one  responsible  man  even  been  indicted.  .  .  .  Was  Punch 
right,  after  all,  when  it  cartooned  President  Roosevelt  as  a  rock- 
ing-horse crusader,  brave,  dashing  and  dauntless,  but  never 
getting  anywhere? 

Earlier  in  the  year  The  World  had  commented  upon 
"the  most  far-reaching  claim  of  federal  power  ever 


328  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

advanced  by  any  President  of  the  United  States  "-  —Presi- 
dent Roosevelt's  Decoration  Day  address  in  Indianapolis, 
in  which  he  claimed  federal  control  of  carriers,  "whether 
their  business  is  or  is  not  interstate/7  under  the  power  to 
establish  post-roads.  Of  this  dream  of  centralization 
The  World  said: 

If  this  contention  be  admitted,  no  city  can  control  its  own 
public  streets.  These  thoroughfares  are  used  by  mail-carriers 
and  mail-wagons  and  the  power  of  regulation  rests  in  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States.  No  State  can  control  its  own 
wagon-roads  if  these  roads  are  used  by  rural-free-delivery 
carriers.  No  city  can  regulate  its  own  traction  companies. 
These  companies  in  New  York  City  and  in  many  other  places 
carry  United  States  mail.  .  .  . 

Mr.  Root,  in  his  speech  before  the  Pennsylvania  Society 
warned  the  States  that  they  could  preserve  their  authority 
only  by  a  vigorous  exercise  of  their  powers  for  the  general 
public  good.  But  there  is  no  salvation  by  good  works  in  Mr. 
Roosevelt's  scheme  of  theology.  Under  the  clause  empowering 
Congress  to  establish  post-roads  the  States  were  predestined 
to  be  extinguished. 

Of  Mr.  Roosevelt's  Provincetown  speech  calling  like 
the  daughters  of  the  horse-leech  for  more  law,  and  ever 
more  law,  The  World  said,  under  the  heading  "More 
Muddling  of  Government": 

The  grave  defect  of  Mr.  Roosevelt's  corporation  policy 
is  that  he  has  no  policy.  He  has  advocated  a  constitutional 
amendment  to  enable  the  Government  to  suppress  the  trusts; 
he  has  advocated  publicity  as  the  first  essential  step  in  con- 
trolling these  corporations  and  secured  the  agencies  of  such 
publicity;  he  has  promised  the  strictest  enforcement  of  the 
Sherman  law;  he  has  explained  why  "good"  trusts  should 
not  be  prosecuted  at  all;  he  has  advocated  Federal  licenses 
for  all  corporations  engaged  in  interstate  commerce;  he  has 
undertaken  to  have  receivers  appointed  for  corporations  that 
violate  the  law;  he  has  advanced  the  astounding  doctrine  that 


AGAIN    MR.    ROOSEVELT  329 

under  the  post-roads  clause  Congress  can  control  any  common 
carrier  that  transports  the  mails;  he  has  demanded  and  ob- 
tained the  power  through  a  commission  to  fix  railway  rates; 
he  has  declared  that  no  criminal,  high  or  low,  whom  the  Govern- 
ment could  convict  would  escape  punishment;  he  has  explained 
why  the  criminal  prosecution  of  these  criminals  is  generally 
inexpedient — and  now  he  has  arrived  at  Federal  incorporation 
as  the  sovereign  remedy. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  advances  one  new  scheme  after  another  until 
the  business  mind  is  bewildered  in  the  mazes  of  Presidential 
experimentation. 

No  part  of  Mr.  Roosevelt's  programme  was  more  bitter- 
ly denounced  than  his  attempt  to  use  secret-service  funds 
to  compel  Congress  to  support  his  policies.  He  sought 
to  persuade  the  country  that,  owing  to  the  machinations 
of  Congressmen  who  "did  not  themselves  wish  to  be  in- 
vestigated by  Secret  Service  men,"  the  machinery  of 
justice  had  been  crippled,  and  that  Congress,  when  it 
questioned  an  appropriation  for  secret-service  purposes, 
was  legislating  to  protect  "criminals." 

Congress  answered  the  President  by  passing  the 
Perkins  resolution.  This  declared  that  the  Secret  Service 
paragraph  of  his  message  was  "unjustified  and  without 
basis  in  fact"  and  a  "breach  of  the  privileges"  of  Con- 
gress. Of  this  famous  dispute  The  World  said : 

Other  Presidents  have  quarreled  with  Congress;  but  no 
other  President  ever  attacked  in  a  message  the  integrity  of 
the  entire  law-making  branch  of  the  Government,  or  insinuated 
that  "the  Congressmen"  were  practically  the  accomplices  of 
criminals. 

Yet  not  for  all  its  criticisms  of  the  President  was  The 
World  willing  to  contemplate  the  loss  to  public  life  of  his 
talent  and  energy.  On  November  9,  1908,  it  advocated 
his  election  as  United  States  Senator  from  New  York 
to  succeed  Platt.  "Better,"  says  an  Eastern  proverb, 

22 


330  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

"a  wise  enemy  than  a  foolish  friend."  The  advice  ten- 
dered in  these  passages  would,  if  accepted,  have  provided 
Mr.  Roosevelt  a  far  better  route  of  re-entry  into  public  life 
than  the  Stimson  debacle  of  1910: 

Theodore  Roosevelt  should  succeed  Thomas  C.  Platt  as 
United  States  Senator  from  New  York. 

The  World  would  infinitely  prefer  a  Democrat  of  proved 
ability,  integrity  and  character,  but  no  Democrat  can  be  elected. 
The  Legislature  is  Republican;  Platt's  successor  will  be  a 
Republican,  and  the  choice  narrows  to  the  Republican  best 
qualified  to  represent  the  State  of  New  York.  That  man,  in 
our  opinion,  is  Theodore  Roosevelt.  .  .  . 

Mr.  Roosevelt's  faults  would  be  far  less  conspicuous  in  the 
Senate  than  in  the  White  House.  In  the  United  States  Senate 
no  man  is  supreme.  However  energetic,  however  impulsive, 
however  ambitious,  he  must  conform  to  the  traditions  of  the 
greatest  deliberative  body  in  the  world.  .  .  . 

Any  man  who  has  been  President  of  the  United  States  has 
gained  an  experience  that  is  invaluable  to  the  nation  and 
should  not  be  lost. 

The  World's  farewell  to  Mr.  Roosevelt  as  President  was 
a  full-page  editorial  on  March  4,  1909,  entitled  "  Seven 
Years  of  Demagogy  and  Denunciation."  For  a  little 
there  was  a  breathing-space  for  Mr.  Roosevelt;  politics 
was  dropped  for  the  production  of  some  extremely 
readable  articles  upon  his  hunting-trip  in  Africa.  The 
condition  of  American  parties  during  his  absence — the 
lull  before  the  reawakened  storm — was  described  in  De- 
cember, 1909,  in  a  remarkable  article  called  "The  Twilight 
of  the  Gods": 

Democrats  and  Republicans  alike  are  divided.  In  the 
House,  Speaker  Cannon  faces  an  insurgent  revolt;  but  Champ 
Clark,  the  Opposition  leader,  cannot  command  the  unanimous 
support  of  the  Democratic  Representatives,  Senator  Culberson 
has  resigned  the  thankless  task  of  leading  the  Democratic 
minority  in  the  Senate,  and  Senator  Aldrich  finds  his  own 


AGAIN    MR.    ROOSEVELT  331 

leadership  sharply  challenged  by  radical  Senators  from  the 
West.  Republican  Senators  and  Representatives  can  be  found 
who  are  no  less  radical  than  Mr.  Bryan  and  Mr.  Clark,  and 
there  are  Democratic  Senators  and  Representatives  who  are  no 
less  conservative  than  Mr.  Aldrich  and  Mr.  Cannon. 

Party  demoralization  in  Congress  is  no  accident.  It  is  the 
inevitable  result  of  a  political  discontent  that  is  struggling  to 
find  a  voice.  Mr.  Bryan  expressed  it  in  a  way;  but  neither  of 
them  ever  got  to  the  heart  of  things.  .  .  . 

As  The  World  sees  it,  to  find  the  genesis  of  this  present-day 
discontent  we  must  go  back  nearly  twenty  years,  when  public 
opinion,  inflamed  by  the  aggressions  of  great  combinations  of 
capital,  compelled  the  enactment  of  the  Sherman  Anti-Trust 
law.  But  no  law  is  self-enforcing.  Least  of  all  one  that  strikes 
at  privilege  and  plutocracy.  Before  sufficient  pressure  could 
be  brought  to  bear  upon  the  Executive  to  compel  a  vigorous 
enforcement  of  the  Anti-Trust  act  the  silver  question  had 
become  acute.  Attention  was  diverted  from  the  trusts,  and 
the  Sherman  law  was  temporarily  forgotten  in  the  struggle  to 
save  the  nation  from  the  consequences  of  free  silver. 

What  the  country  most  needs  politically  is  a  new  alignment 
of  parties,  in  order  that  they  may  again  represent  the  principles 
and  ideals  of  their  members;  but  this  is  too  much  to  hope  for 
at  present.  There  are  thousands  of  Republicans  who  are  really 
Democrats,  and  thousands  of  Democrats  who  are  really  Repub- 
licans; but  they  are  held  to  their  ancient  party  allegiance  by 
habit,  sentiment,  tradition  and  prejudice.  Instead  of  seeking 
a  party  that  better  expresses  their  views,  they  are  seeking  to 
mold  their  own  party  over  to  their  changing  principles,  and 
the  growing  spirit  of  independence  makes  the  issues  only  the 
more  confusing.  .  .  . 

The  old  battle-cries  fall  on  deaf  ears.  The  old  standards  arouse 
little  enthusiasm.  The  old  prophecies  excite  no  reverence.  A 
new  order  is  seeking  to  establish  itself  politically.  This  is  the 
twilight  of  the  gods. 

Mr.  Roosevelt's  return  to  America  on  June  18, 1910,  was 
like  the  triumph  of  a  Roman  general.  He  was  welcomed 
by  a  huge  outpouring  of  the  people. 


332  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

It  was  expected  that  the  ex-President  would  remain 
for  a  time  quiet.  He  may  have  intended  to  do  so,  but  his 
restless  temperament  forbade  him  to  stay  inactive  at  the 
edge  of  a  fight.  He  had  surrounded  Governor  Hughes's 
path  with  difficulties,  had  driven  him  to  the  Supreme 
Court,  out  of  the  road  to  the  Presidency,  and  thus  had 
paved  the  way  for  the  Republican  schism  of  1912  which 
the  progressive  Hughes  might  have  avoided.  A  new 
campaign  for  Governor  of  New  York  was  near.  The 
hunter  plunged  into  the  fray  by  his  discovery  in  Osawa- 
tomie,  Kansas,  August  31,  of  the  "New  Nationalism." 
Showing  a  belated  concern  for  the  dangers  of  corruption 
in  campaign  contributions  by  corporations,  he  put  for- 
ward as  a  remedy  the  control  of  corporations  by  the 
government,  and  fathered  such  a  policy  of  federal  power 
as  to  disconcert  the  disciples  of  Hamilton  scarcely  less 
than  those  of  Jefferson. 

As  the  state  convention  in  New  York  drew  near  it 
became  apparent  that  the  hunter  had  bagged  the  party. 
He  overturned  the  machine  plan,  by  which  Vice-President 
Sherman  was  to  have  been  permanent  chairman  of  the 
convention,  and  took  command.  The  old-line  leaders, 
who  by  helping  Roosevelt  to  crowd  Hughes  off  the 
course  had  shown  themselves  less  skilful  politicians  than 
he,  stood  back  to  "watch  Teddy  run  things."  Their 
allegiance  in  the  campaign  that  followed  was  little  more 
than  nominal. 

For  Governor  Mr.  Roosevelt  selected  Henry  L.  Stimson. 

Mr.  Stimson  was  the  former  United  States  Attorney 
for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York.  He  was  an 
able  lawyer,  an  effective  speaker;  he  was  not  known  to 
the  voters,  but  Mr.  Roosevelt  overlooked  this  weakness. 

The  platform  was  timid.  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  willing 
to  make  radical  speeches  in  Kansas,  but  in  drawing  up  a 
policy  for  New  York,  Progressivism  roared  gently.  The 
Taft  administration,  which  two  years  later  the  Roosevel- 


AGAIN    MR.    ROOSEVELT  333 

tians  were  to  assail  so  furiously,  was  "  enthusiastically 
indorsed. "  The  Payne- Aldrich  tariff  was  praised.  The 
platform  was  silent  on  the  income  tax,  which  Presidents 
Taft  and  Roosevelt  had  both  urged;  on  the  workmen's 
compensation  law;  on  initiative  and  referendum  and  the 
direct  election  of  Senators.  As  for  direct-primary  action, 
the  rock  on  which  the  Hughes  administration  had  split, 
it  called  for  the  extension  of  the  signature-registration 
law  to  primaries,  but  otherwise  went  into  no  detail. 

So  much  for  leader  and  fighting-call.  For  tactics 
Mr.  Roosevelt  reverted  to  the  old  Parsons-Odell  plan  of 
joining  forces  with  Mr.  Hearst. 

In  1906  Elihu  Root  had  denounced  Mr.  Hearst  with 
President  Roosevelt's  authority  as  the  instigator  of  the 
murder  of  McKinley.  Mr.  Roosevelt  had  held*  respon- 
sible for  that  crime  "  those  who  on  the  stump  and  in  the 
public  press  appeal  to  the  dark  and  evil  spirits  of  malice 
and  greed,  envy  and  sullen  hatred."  Mr.  Root,  repeating 
these  words  in  a  speech  at  Utica  at  the  end  of  the  Hughes- 
Hearst  campaign,  had  added:  "I  say,  by  the  President's 
authority,  that  in  penning  these  words,  with  the  horror 
of  President  McKinley's  murder  fresh  before  him,  he  had 
Mr.  Hearst  specifically  in  mind.  And  I  say,  by  his 
authority,  that  what  he  thought  of  Mr.  Hearst  then  he 
thinks  of  Mr.  Hearst  now."  That  unflattering  opinion  was 
soon  modified,  for  on  November  16,  1908,  Mr.  Hearst  was 
a  caller  upon  President  Roosevelt  at  the  White  House.  On 
September  7, 1910,  he  published  in  his  newspaper  this  appeal : 

Come  home  to  New  York,  Mr.  Roosevelt,  and  honestly  take  the 
war-path  against  the  bosses.  We  Independents  are  whetting  our 
tomahawks  for  the  fray.  There  is  no  jealousy  in  our  ranks.  We  do 
not  care  who  leads,  if  he  only  leads  aright. 

We  do  not  care  who  gains  the  glory  as  long  as  the  people  gain  the 
victory. 

Drive  the  Republican  bosses  out  of  the  Republican  party,  Mr. 
Roosevelt,  and  if  one  of  them  deserts  to  the  Democratic  party  fifty 
thousand  Independents  will  take  his  place, 


334  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

On  the  following  day  Mr.  Roosevelt  replied:  "I  am 
going  back  to  New  York  State,  as  mentioned  by  Mr. 
Hearst,  to  fight  the  bosses.  I  will  welcome  the  support  of 
any  man  who  wishes  to  aid  in  that  fight." 

An  interview  with  Mr.  Hearst  was  cabled  from  Paris 
on  September  26th  in  which  he  said:  "Certainly  I  would 
support  Mr.  Roosevelt  upon  a  properly  progressive  plat- 
form, but  frankly  I  would  much  prefer  to  support  some 
other  man  in  whose  sincerity  and  stability  I  have  more 
confidence." 

Support  was  given  indirectly  by  the  nomination  of  a 
third  ticket.  Mr.  Roosevelt  had  the  satisfaction  of 
conducting  the  fight  of  the  first  Republican  candidate  for 
Governor  of  New  York  defeated  in  sixteen  years.  The 
Hearst  nominee,  John  J.  Hopper,  received  48,470  votes, 
59  fewer  than  the  Socialist.  Stimson  was  beaten  by 
67,401.  In  the  following  year,  while  he  thought  it  still 
possible  to  prevent  a  Republican  schism,  the  amiable 
Mr.  Taft  made  him  Secretary  of  War. 

The  Democratic  candidate,  John  A.  Dix,  was  sup- 
ported by  The  World  on  the  sole  ground  that  his  election 
was  necessary  to  prevent  a  third  term  of  Rooseveltism 
more  violent  and  unrestrained  than  ever  before.  How- 
ever dissatisfied  it  may  later  have  been  with  his  adminis- 
tration, it  never  expressed  regret  for  its  choice  in  1910. 
Mr.  Dix  suffered  greatly  in  comparison  with  Governor 
Hughes.  Where  Hughes  had  fought  the  bosses  and  often 
beaten  them  to  their  knees,  Governor  Dix  compromised. 
He  purchased  support  for  his  measures  by  the  approval 
of  boss-drawn  bills,  like  the  Levy  election  law  to  prevent 
independent  voting,  which  was  riddled  by  the  courts. 
He  bought  confirmation  of  his  personal  nominees  by 
throwing  "patronage"  to  Tammany.  Where  he  followed 
his  own  choice  Governor  Dix  as  a  rule  made  good  selec- 
tions of  public  officials;  he  forced  the  ratification  of  the 
income-tax  amendment  by  New  York;  and  upon  the 


AGAIN    MR.    ROOSEVELT  335 

financial  side  his  administration  made  a  record  of  pro- 
gressive legislation.  On  the  other  hand,  corruption  and 
waste  crept  swiftly  into  the  public  service  of  the  state, 
so  that  at  the  end  of  Governor  Dix's  term  The  World  was 
obliged  to  disclose  demoralization  in  the  Good  Roads  ser- 
vice, the  chief  interest  of  political  bosses;  in  the  Archi- 
tect's office,  and  in  other  departments  of  state  activity. 

A  fight  broke  out  after  Mr.  Dix's  inauguration  upon  the 
election  of  a  Senator;  Boss  Murphy,  fulfilling  a  pre- 
election promise,  swinging  his  support  to  William  F. 
Sheehan.  With  all  the  power  it  possessed  The  World  de- 
nounced this  cynical  bargain  to  deliver  a  great  office  to 
the  ex-boss  of  Buffalo,  and  it  heartened  the  Democratic 
" insurgents"  in  the  Legislature  to  resist.  Here  aid  was 
given  by  the  late  Edward  F.  Shepard,  of  Brooklyn. 
Before  becoming  openly  a  candidate  for  Senator  Mr. 
Shepard  consulted  The  World  and  offered  to  leave  with  it 
the  decision  whether  he  should  make  a  public  statement. 
He  was  advised  to  do  so;  he  might  be  beaten,  but  even 
in  defeat  he  would  serve  his  state.  Mr.  Shepard  took  this 
view  of  his  duty;  was  defeated;  died  soon  afterward — 
he  was  of  delicate  frame  and  health — and  was  followed  to 
the  grave  by  public  sorrow  and  appreciation.  He  made 
many  good  fights,  filled  no  high  office,  but  served  his 
city  and  his  state. 

The  Senatorial  deadlock  was  ended  by  the  election  of 
Supreme  Court  Justice  James  A.  O'Gorman,  an  admirable 
choice  with  which  The  World  was  well  satisfied. 

The  defeat  inflicted  upon  Mr.  Roosevelt  in  1910  ex- 
tended far  beyond  New  York: 

Theodore  Roosevelt  and  the  New  Nationalism  have  gone 
down  to  their  Waterloo.  Mr.  Roosevelt  will  not  be  the  Repub- 
lican candidate  for  President  in  1912. 

When  The  World  made  Mr.  Roosevelt  the  issue  in  this  cam- 
paign he  gaily  accepted  the  challenge  and  spread  himself 
over  the  political  map,  from  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the 


336  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

Atlantic  Ocean.  He  elbowed  Mr.  Taft  and  the  Republican 
Administration  aside  while  he  conducted  a  sky-rocket  campaign 
for  a  third  term  and  his  own  political  apotheosis.  Mr.  Roose- 
velt has  been  speaking  for  many  weeks.  Now  the  people  have 
spoken,  and  the  people  have  repudiated  Rooseveltism. 

He  is  beaten  decisively  in  his  own  State,  where  his  personally 
conducted  candidate  is  overwhelmed,  and  the  Republicans  have 
lost  the  Governorship  for  the  first  time  in  sixteen  years. 

He  is  beaten  in  his  own  Congress  district. 

He  is  beaten  in  his  home  district  in  his  own  town,  which 
was  carried  by  John  A.  Dix. 

He  is  beaten  in  Massachusetts,  where  he  viciously  assailed 
Mr.  Foss,  and  the  people  elected  Mr.  Foss  Governor. 

He  is  beaten  in  Connecticut,  where  he  viciously  assailed 
Judge  Baldwin,  and  the  people  elected  Judge  Baldwin  Governor. 

He  is  beaten  in  Ohio,  where  he  viciously  assailed  Judson 
Harmon,  and  the  people  have  re-elected  Judson  Harmon 
Governor. 

He  is  beaten  in  New  Jersey,  where  Woodrow  Wilson  made  an 
Old  Nationalism  Democratic  campaign  against  the  vagaries  of 
the  New  Nationalism. 

He  is  beaten  in  Indiana,  where  he  campaigned  for  Senator 
Beveridge  on  a  fake  tariff  reform  of  false  pretenses. 

He  is  beaten  in  Iowa,  where  a  Republican  majority  of  74,000 
is  nearly  if  not  completely  wiped  out. 

And  wherever  Mr.  Roosevelt  has  been  beaten,  he  has  been 
beaten  by  Republican  votes. 

Republican  victory  would  have  been  a  Roosevelt  victory. 
Republican  defeat  is  a  Roosevelt  defeat.  When  the  Republican 
Convention  in  1912  looks  for  this  mysterious  Moses  whom 
Elihu  Root  has  so  eloquently  described,  it  will  not  look  in  the 
direction  of  Oyster  Bay. 

Such  a  defeat  would  have  disheartened  most  men.  One 
thing  that  endeared  Mr.  Roosevelt  to  his  countrymen  was 
that  he  did  not  know  when  he  was  whipped.  The  cam- 
paign of  1912  was  begun  on  the  field  of  the  rout  of  1910. 
The  fulsome  praise  in  the  New  York  platform  of  1910  for 
the  failing  administration  of  Mr,  Taft  could  not  be  for- 


AGAIN    MR.    ROOSEVELT  337 

gotten  in  a  day;  but  mounting  discontent  soon  helped 
Mr.  Roosevelt  to  attack  what  he  had  lauded.  The  great 
Progressive  movement  in  Congress,  which  developed  such 
logical  leaders  as  Senators  La  Follette,  Cummins,  and 
Bristow,  was  left  for  a  time  to  plow  and  harrow  and  sow 
the  Colonel's  field.  But  in  the  spring  of  1912  it  became 
apparent  that,  foiled  by  Stimson's  defeat  of  gaining  the 
Republican  nomination,  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  holding  in 
reserve  a  schismatic  candidacy. 

Senator  La  Follette  has  told  how  he  was  encouraged  by 
the  Roosevelt  group  to  believe  that  he  had  a  clear  road  for 
a  Progressive  nomination.  Why  should  he  not  believe 
his  road  was  clear?  Had  not  Mr.  Roosevelt,  after  his  re- 
election in  1904,  on  November  8th  made  this  pledge  with 
the  people? 

On  the  4th  of  March  next  I  shall  have  served  three  and  a  half 
years,  and  this  three  and  a  half  years  constitute  my  first  term.  The 
wise  custom  which  limits  the  President  to  two  terms  regards  the 
substance  and  not  the  form,  and  under  no  circumstances  will  I  be  a 
candidate  for,  or  accept,  another  nomination. 

Had  not  Mr.  Roosevelt  more  than  three  years  later,  on 
December  11,  1907,  amplified  the  pledge? 

I  have  not  changed  and  shall  not  change  that  decision  thus 
announced. 

Mr.  La  Follette  further  tells  how,  later,  the  impatient 
Nimrod  thrust  him  aside  and  took  possession  of  his  un- 
dertaking. The  election  of  1911  aided  the  plan.  Though 
not  an  important  contest,  it  showed  the  people  still 
dissatisfied.  New  York  reverted  to  the  Republican  side 
in  disgust  at  Tammany;  California  went  overwhelmingly 
Republican  but  with  progressive  intent;  New  Jersey  re- 
turned a  narrow  Republican  legislature  through  the 
treachery  of  Democratic  bosses  to  Gov.  Woodrow  Wilson. 
But  Indiana  remained  Democratic ;  Ohio  continued  to  sup- 


338  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

port  Governor  Harmon  with  a  Democratic  legislature; 
Massachusetts  again  elected  the  Democratic  Governor 
Foss,  and  Maine  for  the  first  time  in  years  chose  a  Demo- 
cratic Governor  and  legislature,  and  later  a  Democratic 
Senator. 

Gloomy  indeed  was  the  situation  of  the  Republicans. 
The  country  was  in  revolt.  The  enemy  had  invaded  the 
citadels  of  privilege.  President  Taft's  administration  was 
a  failure;  the  failure  of  a  man  respected  and  beloved, 
but  still  in  public  esteem  a  failure.  Progressivism  was 
demanding  its  rights  in  a  West  which  could  no  longer  be 
deceived  or  cajoled. 

Add  to  this  the  portent  of  Rooseveltism  upon  the 
horizon,  and  the  party  horoscope,  as  1911  drew  to  its 
close,  was  heavy  with  warnings  of  fate. 


XXIV 

"  ARMAGEDDON" 

1912 

The  "Seven  Little  Governors"  Invite  Mr.  Roosevelt  into  Action — He  Throws 
His  Hat  into  the  Ring — Attempts  to  Grasp  the  Republican  Nomination 
and  is  Defeated — "The  World"  Demands  the  Nomination  of  Woodrow 
Wilson — Mr.  Bryan's  Great  Services  at  the  Baltimore  Convention — Crush- 
ing Defeat  of  Boss  Murphy  and  the  Reactionaries — Nomination  of  William 
Sulzerfor  Governor — Philosophy  of  Politics — Barren  Results  of  the  Bull 
Moose  Campaign — "A  New  Birth  of  Freedom" 

THE  debut  of  Theodore  Roosevelt  as  a  candidate  for  a 
third  Presidential  term  was  skilfully  stage-managed. 

On  the  10th  of  February,  1912,  seven  Governors  ad- 
dressed to  him  a  letter  of  invitation.  They  stated  that 
they  believed  after  investigation  that  "  a  large  majority  of 
the  Republican  voters  of  the  country  favor  your  nomina- 
tion, and  a  large  majority  of  the  people  favor  your  elec- 
tion, as  the  next  President  of  the  United  States."  The 
seven  Governors  were  Stubbs,  of  Kansas;  Carey,  of 
Wyoming;  Glasscock,  of  West  Virginia;  Aldrich,  of 
Nebraska;  Osborn,  of  Michigan;  Bass,  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  Hadley,  of  Missouri. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  did  not  at  once  reply.  On  February 
24th,  however,  he  " threw  his  hat  into  the  ring"  with  the 
statement,  "I  will  accept  the  nomination  for  President  if 
it  is  tendered  to  me,"  and  began  an  open  campaign  for  the 
Republican  nomination.  He  secured  450  delegates'  to  the 
national  convention  who  would  stand  by  him  to  the  end, 
and  a  collection  of  78  contested  cases,  involving  254  seats, 


340  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

which  were  desperately  fought  in  the  national  committee 
before  the  Chicago  convention  met. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  reached  Chicago,  amid  scenes  of 
frenzied  enthusiasm,  on  Sunday  preceding  the  convention. 
On  Monday  night  he  made  the  famous  speech  that  bore 
the  message,  "If  they  ask  for  the  sword  they  shall  have 
it,"  and  closed  with  the  lilting  line,  "We  stand  at  Armaged- 
don and  we  battle  for  the  Lord." 

The  Roosevelt  delegates  were  excited;  Illinois  was  a 
Roosevelt  state;  Roosevelt  enthusiasm  in  the  galleries  was 
certain.  Many  observers  predicted  bloodshed,  but  the 
convention  did  not  prove  more  tumultuous  than  is  the 
rule  with  these  vast,  unwieldy  gatherings.  The  test 
came  quickly  in  the  vote  for  permanent  chairman. 
The  Roosevelt  forces  supported  Governor  McGovern  of 
Wisconsin,  a  La  Follette  delegate,  who  received  502  votes; 
Senator  Root,  the  Taft  champion,  was  elected  by  558 
votes,  and  handled  the  gathering  with  extraordinary 
parliamentary  skill.  Governor  Hadley  of  Missouri  was 
the  able  floor  leader  of  the  Roosevelt  hosts.  Mr.  Roose- 
velt's adherents  cast  510  votes  upon  the  motion  to  admit 
the  contesting  delegations,  and  this  showed  their  greatest 
strength.  Before  the  nomination  was  made  they  had 
agreed  to  withdraw,  and  in  the  selection  of  a  nominee 
only  107  participated  by  voting  for  their  candidate. 
La  Follette  received  41  votes;  Cummins,  of  Iowa,  17. 
Six  delegates  were  absent,  344  did  not  vote — making 
with  the  107  a  total  Progressive  strength  of  451.  Mr. 
Taft  had  561  votes,  but  three  more  than  on  the  first 
test,  so  closely  held  was  the  battle-field. 

That  night  was  held  in  Orchestra  Hall  one  of  the  most 
excited  political  meetings  ever  known  in  this  country. 
Mr.  Roosevelt's  speech  was  inferior  to  his  Armaged- 
don effort ;  but  what  it  lacked  in  phrasing  was  sup- 
plied, to  an  audience  worked  up  almost  to  frenzy, 
by  his  impassioned  energy  of  utterance.  The  move- 


"ARMAGEDDON"  341 

ment  to  nominate  a  third  ticket  was  definitely  under 
way. 

The  World,  meanwhile,  had  surveyed  the  battle-scene 
with  impartial  philosophy.  With  the  collapse  of  the  La 
Follette  movement  it  welcomed  the  nomination  of  Mr. 
Roosevelt  by  the  Republicans,  which  then  seemed  not 
unlikely:  "The  issues  involved  in  his  political  activities 
might  as  well  be  settled  now  as  at  any  other  time.  If  he 
is  not  nominated  in  1912  he  will  be  a  candidate  for  the 
nomination  in  1916.  That  will  mean  four  years  more  of 
Rooseveltian  agitation,  Rooseveltian  denunciation,  Roose- 
veltian  clamor  and  Rooseveltian  intrigue.  And  to  what 
good?  Why  not  meet  this  Roosevelt  question  now  and 
dispose  of  it  once  for  all?"  Nevertheless  it  soon  predicted 
that  Mr.  Roosevelt  would  not  be  nominated  by  the 
Republicans.  On  March  16th  it  gave  the  reason: 

American  politics  has  witnessed  nothing  more  extraordinary 
than  Mr.  Roosevelt's  loss  of  strength  since  the  announcement 
of  his  candidacy. 

Up  to  that  time  he  was  a  formidable  figure,  occupying  a 
position  of  impregnable  strength.  He  was  professedly  fighting 
for  a  principle.  His  opposition  to  Mr.  Taft  was  ostensibly  the 
opposition  of  thousands  of  other  Republicans  who  believed  the 
Taft  Administration  had  not  been  sufficiently  progressive. 

Had  Mr.  Roosevelt  been  able  to  maintain  this  attitude  it 
is  by  no  means  certain  that  he  would  not  have  been  nominated. 
Mr.  Taft  was  growing  steadily  weaker.  He  himself  admitted 
the  possibility  of  his  defeat  at  the  polls  in  November.  .  .  . 

The  turn  came  when  Mr.  Roosevelt  announced  his  candidacy. 
He  was  no  longer  disinterested.  The  mask  had  been  removed. 
The  so-called  Progressive  movement  was  revealed  as  a  political 
conspiracy  against  Mr.  Taft.  .  .  .  Mr.  Roosevelt  may  have  a 
large  following  in  the  Chicago  Convention.  Populistic  States 
like  Oklahoma  will  send  delegations  that  are  instructed  for 
him,  but  the  Roosevelt  men  will  be  in  a  minority. 

The  prophecy  was  fulfilled,  but  rather  by  the  strength 
of  the  Republican  machine  than  by  the  voice  of  the  rank 


342  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

and  file.  Had  there  been  Presidential  direct  primaries 
throughout  the  country  Mr.  Roosevelt  would  almost 
certainly  have  been  nominated.  His  strength  in  the 
Chicago  convention  came  from  states  where  Presidential 
primaries  were  held.  His  opponents  came  from  states 
where  the  old  convention  plan  was  still  in  force  and  the 
conspicuous  leaders  were  in  control.  The  smaller  leaders 
of  the  party  quite  generally  favored  Roosevelt  because 
with  him  they  felt  they  had  a  gambler's  chance  of  electing 
town  and  county  officials,  while  with  Taft  nominated 
and  a  divided  party  their  cause  in  many  localities  was 
hopeless.  A  majority  of  the  rank  and  file  also  probably 
preferred  Roosevelt. 

Hard  upon  the  heels  of  the  Republican  convention 
followed  that  of  the  Democrats  in  Baltimore. 

Six  years  earlier  Mr.  Pulitzer  in  a  memorandum  for 
his  editors  had  compared  Dr.  Woodrow  Wilson,  president 
of  Princeton,  to  Dr.  Eliot  of  Harvard  as  "a  political 
thinker  of  the  very  first  rank;  far  above  ordinary  poli- 
ticians and  more  of  the  statesmanlike  cast  of  thought 
than  the  President  of  the  United  States;  perhaps  because 
he  is  not  a  politician  nor  a  partisan  but  an  independent 
thinker";  and  had  said:  "This  is  the  type  of  man  the 
Democrats  should  nominate,  ridiculous  though  the  sug- 
gestion will  probably  appear."  The  suggestion  began 
to  appear  less  ridiculous  in  1910  when  Dr.  Wilson  was 
elected  Governor  of  New  Jersey  after  a  masterly  campaign 
and  proceeded  to  give  that  state  an  admirable  adminis- 
tration. 

Yet  Governor  Wilson  was  by  no  means  the  leading 
candidate  in  the  number  of  his  supporting  delegates  at 
Baltimore.  He  was,  on  the  other  hand,  the  candidate 
most  obnoxious  to  certain  financial  interests  that  formed 
something  like  a  conspiracy  to  prevent  his  nomination  or 
that  of  any  man  too  conspicuously  progressive  to  suit 
their  purposes.  The  first  candidate  of  these  men  was 


"ARMAGEDDON"  343 

Governor  Harmon  of  Ohio,  an  admirable  executive. 
Governor  Harmon  has  suffered  some  injustice  in  popular 
estimation  from  this  support.  He  was  worthy  of  a 
better  following.  His  age  and  the  fact  that  he  represented 
the  Cleveland  Democracy,  against  which  the  old  feeling 
still  existed  among  the  Bryan  element,  handicapped  him 
further.  The  second  choice  of  the  reactionaries  was 
Representative  Oscar  Underwood,  chairman  of  the  Ways 
and  Means  Committee  of  the  House.  Mr.  Underwood 
had  the  public  confidence,  but  his  unbidden  friends  did 
not  help  his  chances.  There  was  also  a  general  feeling 
that  he  could  be  most  useful  to  the  party  and  the  country 
in  Congress. 

When  it  became  apparent  that  neither  Harmon  nor 
Underwood  could  win  the  conspirators  shifted  their 
strength  to  Speaker  Champ  Clark,  who  had  a  large  popular 
following,  and  whose  column  of  pledged  delegates,  with 
the  help  of  his  new  allies,  put  him  in  the  lead. 

Support  of  Clark  in  such  conditions  was  impossible  to 
The  World.  Of  that  it  had  given  fair  warning.  On  May 
30th  it  nailed  Governor  Wilson's  name  to  the  masthead 
in  an  article  entitled,  "For  President — Woodrow  Wilson": 

Like  a  twentieth-century  Genghis  Khan,  Theodore  Roose- 
velt, with  his  horde  of  prairie  Populists  and  Wall-street 
Socialists,  is  sweeping  down  upon  the  Republican  National 
Convention.  Mr.  Taft  seems  as  powerless  to  check  him  as 
the  degenerate  Romans  were  to  check  the  descent  of  the  Goths 
and  the  Vandals.  The  historic  party  of  Lincoln  and  Seward 
and  Chase  and  Sumner  and  Conkling  and  Chandler  and  Elaine 
and  Garfield  and  Harrison  and  Sherman  and  McKinley  is 
apparently  in  the  death-throes.  This  is  the  twilight  of  the 
gods,  and  the  Democratic  party  must  rise  not  only  to  its 
opportunity  but  to  its  responsibility. 

How  can  it  do  its  duty  better  than  to  match  sanity  against 
lunacy;  statesmanship  against  demagogy;  the  historian  against 
the  Rough  Rider;  the  educator  of  public  opinion  against  the 


344  THE    STORY    OF   A   PAGE 

debaucher  of  public  opinion;  the  first  term  against  the  third 
term;  the  tariff-reformer  against  the  stand-patter;  the  man 
who  would  prosecute  trust  magnates  against  the  man  who 
protects  trust  magnates;  the  man  with  clean  hands  against 
the  man  who  draws  his  campaign  fund  from  Wall  Street; 
the  supporter  of  constitutional  government  against  the  cham- 
pion of  personal  government;  law  against  lawlessness;  American- 
ism against  Mexicanism;  the  Republic  against  the  dictatorship? 
Who  better  represents  these  issues  than  Woodrow  Wilson? 

The  " conservatives"  in  the  Baltimore  convention 
planned  to  show  their  strength  by  making  Alton  B. 
Parker  the  temporary  chairman.  The  World  pointed 
out  to  Mr.  Bryan,  who  as  a  delegate  from  Nebraska  was  to 
be  a  potent  figure  in  the  convention,  his  opportunity  to  use 
his  great  power  for  the  party.  The  handicap  under 
which  he  labored  was  "the  growing  cloud  of  suspicion 
that  he  is  secretly  planning  his  own  nomination."  Boss 
Murphy  and  the  Wall  Street  Democracy  were  trying  to 
force  Parker  upon  the  convention  on  the  plea  that  if 
Bryan  was  not  beaten  he  would  seize  the  nomination  for 
himself.  By  taking  his  "great  patriotic  opportunity" 
by  announcing  that  he  was  not  a  candidate — Bryan  could 
crush  the  Wall  Street-Tammany  coalition,  force  the  adop- 
tion of  "a  platform  that  squares  with  the  principles  and 
convictions  of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  party,"  secure  the 
nomination  of  Wilson  or  another  as  satisfactory,  and  "make 
himself  the  architect  of  a  Democratic  victory  in  November 
that  will  pave  the  way  for  twenty  years  of  Democratic 
administration  in  Washington." 

Of  the  candidates  only  Woodrow  Wilson  was  bold 
enough  to  protest  in  advance  against  the  selection  of 
Mr.  Parker  as  temporary  chairman,  as  an  unwise  yielding 
to  men  whose  domination  of  the  party  would  invite  if  not 
insure  defeat.  When  on  June  25th  the  convention  met, 
Mr.  Parker  was  seated  by  a  vote  of  579.  Mr.  Bryan, 
who  ably  fought  against  Parker  and  consented  to  stand 


"ARMAGEDDON"  345 

for  the  post  instead  of  his  nominee,  Senator  Kern,  received 
510  votes.  The  test  was  a  triumph  for  the  conservatives, 
but  a  costly  one. 

On  Thursday  night,  June  27th,  Mr.  Bryan  introduced 
his  famous  resolution  beginning:  "We  hereby  declare 
ourselves  opposed  to  the  nomination  of  any  candidate 
for  President  who  is  the  representative  or  under  any 
obligation  to  J.  Pierpont  Morgan,  Thomas  F.  Ryan, 
August  Belmont,  or  any  other  of  the  privilege-hunting 
or  favor-seeking  class,"  and  demanding  the  withdrawal 
of  delegates  representing  such  interests. 

The  second  part  of  the  resolution  was  resented  on 
behalf  of  Virginia,  under  whose  banner  Thomas  F.  Ryan 
had  appeared  as  a  delegate,  and  was  withdrawn.  The 
resolution  as  quoted  was  then  passed,  Charles  F.  Murphy, 
of  New  York,  casting  90  votes  for  it,  although  August 
Belmont  was  one  of  the  Tammany  delegates.  The 
reactionaries  smiled  at  having,  as  they  thought,  taken 
the  sting  out  of  the  resolution  by  supporting  it. 

On  Friday  balloting  began,  with  Mr.  Clark  in  the  lead. 
He  was  supported  by  his  own  state,  by  Mr.  Bryan,  and 
by  many  others  of  the  progressive  wing.  Late  that  night, 
on  the  tenth  ballot,  Murphy  swung  the  solid  New  York 
column  of  90  votes  from  Harmon  to  Clark.  Clark's 
strength  rose  to  556,  more  than  half  the  convention,  two- 
thirds  of  which  was  necessary  to  a  nomination.  Wilson's 
vote  was  354^.  But  the  Tammany  accession  was  far 
from  causing  a  stampede;  Clark's  vote  fell  on  the  next 
ballot  to  554,  while  Wilson's  continued  rising.  This 
showed  what  the  convention  thought  of  the  stencil-plate 
delegates  from  New  York  who  had  sat,  wincing  but  dumb, 
under  Mr.  Byran's  invective. 

Balloting  continued  on  Saturday  with  a  gradual  loss  to 
Clark  and  a  steady  gain  to  Wilson;  and  when  on  the 
forty-third  vote  the  convention  adjourned  over  Sunday 
Wilson  was  well  in  the  lead. 

23 


346  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

Monday  morning  The  World  published,  in  the  most 
conspicuous  manner  its  editorial  typography  has  ever 
assumed,  a  strong  article  headed  "  Wilson — No  Com- 
promise with  Ryan  and  Murphy": 

Compromise  was  possible  until  the  Ryan-Murphy  con- 
spiracy was  fully  revealed  and  the  Tammany  boss  carried 
out  the  terms  of  his  bargain  with  the  Clark  managers  by  throw- 
ing New  York's  ninety  votes  to  Champ  Clark.  Compromise 
was  possible  until  Mr.  Bryan  was  compelled  by  the  inexorable 
logic  of  events  to  repudiate  Champ  Clark's  candidacy  and  vote 
for  Woodrow  Wilson.  Compromise  was  possible  until  it  be- 
came apparent  to  every  intelligent  man  that  the  Ryan-Murphy- 
Belmont-Hearst  coalition  had  set  out  to  strangle  progressive 
Democracy,  destroy  Mr.  Bryan  politically  and  prevent  the 
nomination  of  Woodrow  Wilson  at  any  cost. 

Compromise  is  no  longer  possible.  There  can  be  no  Demo- 
cratic harmony,  there  can  be  no  Democratic  unity,  there  can 
be  no  Democratic  integrity,  until  the  convention  overwhelms 
this  shameful  alliance  between  corrupt  finance  and  corrupt 
politics.  .  .  . 

The  Ryan-Murphy  coalition  will  now  accept  anybody 
except  Wilson.  If  the  convention  yields  to  the  plea  for  a  com- 
promise candidate,  it  will  be  a  Ryan-Murphy  victory. 

A  thousand  Roosevelt  orators  will  be  thundering  from  the 
stump  their  denunciation  of  Democracy's  surrender  to  Wall 
Street. 

The  issue  that  is  vital  to  Roosevelt's  campaign  for  a  third 
term  will  come  to  his  hand  ready-made.  The  Democratic 
party  might  as  well  retire  from  the  contest  as  to  go  before  the 
country  with  the  Ryan-Murphy  taint  upon  its  ticket.  .  .  . 

As  Stephen  A.  Douglas  once  said,  "  There  can  be  no  neutrals 
in  this  war — only  patriots  or  traitors." 

When  the  convention  reassembled  Wilson  received  the 
nomination  on  the  forty-sixth  ballot. 

The  World  predicted  Governor  Wilson's  election.  He 
would  be  "the  first  President  of  the  United  States  in  a 
generation  to  go  into  office  owing  favors  to<nobody  except 


"ARMAGEDDON"  347 

the  American  people.  No  political  boss  brought  about 
his  nomination.  No  political  machine  carried  his  can- 
didacy to  victory.  No  coterie  of  Wall  Street  financiers 
provided  the  money  to  finance  his  campaign.  The 
American  people  have  set  out  to  regain  possession  of 
their  government,  and  Woodrow  Wilson  was  nominated 
for  President  because  he  embodies  that  issue."  The 
share  which  Mr.  Bryan  had  taken  in  the  struggle  was 
gratefully  acknowledged: 

Whether  in  all  things  wisely,  whether  in  all  things  unselfishly, 
whether  in  all  things  loyally  devoted  to  Gov.  Wilson,  it  was  his 
courage,  his  clearness  of  vision,  his  knowledge  of  the  forces 
with  which  he  had  to  contend,  and  his  splendid  mental  and 
physical  endurance  that  gained  the  day.  .  .  . 

It  has  seemed  at  times  that  Mr.  Bryan's  purpose  was  not 
to  strengthen  Democracy,  but  to  strengthen  himself.  That 
suspicion  attached  to  him  at  Baltimore  and  it  delayed  his 
triumph.  Indeed,  the  glory  of  his  achievement  is  doubled  by 
the  fact  that  it  was  brought  about  at  last  as  much  by  foes 
convinced  as  by  friends  who  never  doubted. 

In  this  record  of  a  political  success  that  has  few  parallels, 
we  find  but  a  single  flaw.  If  at  any  stage,  Mr.  Bryan  had 
emphatically  put  aside  personal  ambition,  the  outcome  would 
never  have  been  in  doubt  and  his  disinterestedness  would  have 
made  him  speedily  invincible.  This  he  did  not  do,  and  we 
shall  always  regret  it.  It  was  an  opportunity  lost. 

Politicians  will  long  debate  whether  Mr.  Bryan  had 
well-defined  hopes  of  securing  the  nomination  himself. 
If  in  a  year  when  any  popular  Democrat  was  sure  of 
election  the  leader  who  had  borne  the  banner  of  Democracy 
in  three  defeats  now  wished  to  bear  it  to  victory,  it  was 
not  strange.  But  the  fact  remains  that  Governor  Wil- 
son's nomination  was  made  possible  by  the  brilliant  battle 
which  Mr.  Bryan  waged  in  the  Baltimore  convention 
against  the  bosses  of  the  party  and  their  financial  allies. 

As  in  1892,  The  World's  chief  service  to  Democracy 


348  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

twenty  years  later  was  rendered  before  the  convention, 
in  forcing  forward  the  strongest  candidate,  and  the  result 
fully  vindicated  its  judgment. 

The  campaign  was  put  upon  a  high  plane  by  Governor 
Wilson.  No  one  had  been  more  bold  than  he  showed 
himself  in  addressing  popular  audiences  in  such  terms  as 
one  might  use  before  small  groups  of  educated  men; 
and  his  method  was  successful.  Mr.  Roosevelt  special- 
ized in  denunciations  of  the  men  who  had  "  stolen  "the 
Republican  nomination;  but  many  of  his  supporters 
were  of  the  social-worker  class — agents  of  public  charities, 
settlement  residents  and  those  in  sympathy  with  them— 
who  welcomed  the  opportunity  to  discuss  sanitation, 
education,  working-men's  insurance,  and  other  topics 
more  fitting  to  state  than  national  campaigns.  With 
much  of  their  doctrine  Governor  Wilson  was  in  accord; 
he  had  done  much  for  it  in  New  Jersey;  but  he  argued 
that  workers  for  "social  justice "  would  get  more  help 
from  a  practical  party  in  Constitutional  ways  than  from 
a  rump  of  a  party  of  privilege,  itself  committed  to  the 
governmental  license  of  Big  Business. 

But  the  great  issue  was  the  tariff.  The  Republicans 
complained  that  the  Democratic  platform  denied  the 
Constitutional  right  to  levy  duties,  save  for  revenue;  in 
this  position  the  Bull  Moose  party,  as  the  Progressives 
came  to  be  called,  were  equally  emphatic.  As  no  tariff 
had  ever  been  passed  except  as  a  revenue  measure,  and 
as  Governor  Wilson  was  pledged  to  respect  the  interests 
of  the  community  in  restraint  of  violent  measures,  the 
point  was  not  important. 

Of  the  speech  of  acceptance  by  Governor  Wilson  The 
World  said: 

The  same  vicious  system  that  is  responsible  for  tariff  extortion 
is  largely  responsible  for  the  high  cost  of  living.  "The  high 
cost  of  living  is  arranged  by  private  understanding,"  as  Gov. 
Wilson  truly  says.  The  same  vicious  system  is  responsible 


"ARMAGEDDON"  349 

for  the  trusts  and  for  all  the  evils  that  they  represent.  "The 
trusts  do  not  belong  to  the  period  of  infant  industries."  On 
the  contrary,  "they  belong  to  a  very  recent  and  sophisticated 
age  when  men  knew  what  they  wanted  and  knew  how  to  get 
it  by  the  favor  of  Government." 

The  same  vicious  system  is  responsible  for  the  so-called 
money  power;  for  "the  vast  confederacies"  of  banks  and  rail- 
roads and  express  companies  and  insurance  companies  and 
manufacturing  companies,  all  banded  together  by  small  and 
closely  related  boards  of  directors.  "There  is  nothing  illegal 
about  these  confederacies"  which  are  now  "part  of  our  prob- 
lem." They  have  never  wanted  anything  from  the  Government 
except  immunity  from  interference  and  they  know  how  to  get 
that  immunity. 

Because  of  the  identification  of  Govenor  Dix's  adminis- 
tration more  and  more  closely  with  Tammany  Hall  the 
campaign  for  the  Democratic  nomination  for  Governor 
of  New  York  attracted  wide  attention. 

The  chief  candidate,  besides  Governor  Dix,  was  William 
Sulzer,  a  Representative  in  Congress  from  a  strong 
Democratic  district  in  New  York  City.  Though  Mr. 
Sulzer  was  a  Tammany  man,  his  personal  strength  in  his 
district  had  enabled  him  to  show  occasional  independence 
of  the  Boss,  a  circumstance  that  added  greatly  to  his 
popularity  in  the  rural  districts  of  the  state. 

The  World  had  no  candidate ;  it  was  determined  that  the 
Boss  should  not  be  permitted  to  force  the  nomination  of 
Governor  Dix,  thereby  handicapping  Governor  Wilson  and 
at  the  same  time  menacing  New  York  State  with  the  con- 
tinuance of  a  nerveless  and  boss-controlled  administration. 

Therefore  it  gave  prompt  warning: 

The  World  will  not  support  a  Murphy  candidate  for  Governor. 

The  World  will  not  support  John  A.  Dix  for  re-election. 

The  World  will  not  support  a  candidate  for  Governor  who 
owes  his  nomination,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  the  sinister  power 
of  the  Tammany  Boss. 


350  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

We  are  unalterably  opposed  to  Murphy's  domination  of  the 
Democratic  party  in  this  State  and  we  intend  to  make  that 
opposition  as  effective  as  possible.  Murphy  must  keep  his 
unclean  hands  off  the  Democratic  State  Convention. 

The  nomination  by  the  Republicans  of  Job  Hedges  as  an 
unbossed  candidate  who  "won  without  the  help  of  the 
old  guard, "  and  the  wild  enthusiasm  in  the  Progressive 
state  convention  which  forced  the  candidacy  of  Oscar 
Straus,  led  The  World  to  predict  that  "  Unless  the  [Demo- 
cratic] State  Convention  nominates  a  candidate  for 
Governor  who  is  publicly  known  to  be  an  anti-Murphy 
Democrat,  the  next  Governor  of  New  York  will  be 
Oscar  S.  Straus  or  Job  E.  Hedges.  Either  of  them  would 
make  a  very  good  Governor." 

Murphy  played  in  convention  a  part  less  brazen  than 
in  Baltimore.  He  kept  his  hands  off;  he  himself  voted 
for  no  candidate;  in  these  conditions  Mr.  Sulzer  won 
with  comparative  ease.  The  World  supported  him  with 
a  warning: 

Mr.  Sulzer  was  the  undoubted  choice  of  the  rank  and  file  of 
the  Democratic  party.  He  would  have  been  nominated  for 
Governor  in  a  direct  primary,  and  the  delegates  who  named 
him  at  Syracuse  only  carried  out  the  wishes  of  their  constituents. 
That  much  must  be  admitted  by  friend  and  foe  alike. 

Whether  the  delegates  acted  wisely  or  unwisely  will  depend 
upon  Mr.  Sulzer's  own  attitude  toward  his  candidacy.  He 
must  first  make  it  plain  that  he  is  a  free  man  who  recognizes 
no  obligation  to  any  boss  or  any  machine.  ...  He  must  make 
it  plain  that  as  Governor  he,  and  not  Charles  F.  Murphy,  will 
be  the  leader  of  the  Democratic  party  in  this  State. 

The  country  remained  calm  during  the  campaign,  since 
of  the  outcome  there  could  be  no  doubt.  The  attack 
upon  Mr.  Roosevelt  in  Milwaukee  by  the  unbalanced 
Schrank  gave  the  contest  its  thrilling  moment;  but  he 
was  not  seriously  injured;  and  as  Governor  Wilson  out  of 


"ARMAGEDDON"  351 

courtesy  canceled  his  engagements  for  speeches  while 
Mr.  Roosevelt  was  recovering,  argument  by  the  candi- 
dates ended  a  month  before  election. 

The  occasion  was  therefore  favorable  for  editorial 
articles  in  a  field  which  The  World  has  always  favored, 
the  deeper  philosophy  of  politics.  Such  was  its  long 
study  of  October  21st  entitled  "Monopoly  is  Slavery." 

The  men  who  thought  that  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  could  safely  legalize  and  regulate  slavery  were  greater 
statesmen  than  now  exist  in  any  country  of  the  world.  They 
were  undoubtedly  the  wisest,  the  most  disinterested,  the  most 
inspired  body  of  statesmen  known  to  the  whole  history  of  human 
civilization. 

Yet  slavery  was  the  rock  upon  which  they  split  the  Republic. 
The  attempt  to  legalize  and  regulate  slavery  was  the  one  stu- 
pendous blunder  of  the  Constitution,  which  led  to  civil  war 
and  the  most  momentous  conflict  of  modern  history.  .  .  . 

The  vital  truth  that  Woodrow  Wilson  is  now  seeking  to  im- 
press upon  the  minds  of  the  American  people  is  that  monopoly 
is  slavery.  It  is  not  only  economic  and  industrial  slavery 
but  it  is  political  slavery.  The  Government  does  not  regulate 
monopoly  and  cannot  regulate  monopoly.  It  is  monopoly  that 
regulates  the  Government. 

The  Republican  party  has  no  clear  and  definite  policy  of 
dealing  with  this  great  evil.  The  Progressive  party  purposes 
to  regulate  and  control  monopoly.  But  the  Democratic  party, 
under  the  leadership  of  Woodrow  Wilson,  purposes  to  extermi- 
nate monopoly. 

This  country  wants  no  favored  monopolistic  class  established 
and  maintained  by  law.  It  wants  no  great  mass  of  citizens 
condemned  forever  to  be  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water 
because  a  legalized  monopoly  has  shut  the  door  of  opportunity 
in  their  faces. 

On  the  Saturday  before  election  The  World  contained  a 
full-page  editorial  called  "  Democracy — or  Despotism," 
which  drew  the  contrast  between  two  systems  of  govern- 


352  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

merit,  the  one  based  on  Roman,  the  other  on  English 
law,  and  argued  that  men  of  our  Republic  are  better  suited 
to  thrive  under  the  English  type  of  administration. 
This  was  The  World's  final  comment  upon  the  vision  of 
paternal  coddling  raised  before  the  American  voter  by 
Theodore  Roosevelt's  "New  Nationalism/7  with  its 
lengthening  vista  of  government  control  of  business: 

Under  Roman  law  the  citizen  exists  for  the  benefit  of  the 
state.  Under  English  law  the  state  exists  for  the  benefit  of 
the  citizen.  Under  Roman  law  the  affairs  of  the  people  are 
an  active  concern  of  government.  Under  English  law  the 
affairs  of  government  are  an  active  concern  of  the  people. 
Roman  law  is  an  institution  of  imperialism.  English  law  is 
an  institution  of  democracy. 

The  best  modern  example  of  government  under  Roman  law 
is  Prussia.  The  best  modern  example  of  government  under 
English  law  is  the  United  States.  These  two  conflicting  sys- 
tems cannot  be  permanently  reconciled.  .  .  . 

Under  the  Prussian  form  of  government  all  the  activities 
of  the  citizens  are  regulated  by  an  all-wise  and  all-powerful 
bureaucracy.  At  every  step  of  his  life  a  highly  centralized 
Government  tells  him  what  he  may  do,  what  he  must  do  and 
what  he  must  not  do.  By  the  agency  of  its  tariffs  and  its 
subsidies  the  Government  decides  what  industries  it  will  dis- 
courage. By  means  of  its  cartels  it  opens  or  closes  the  gates 
of  opportunity  at  will.  Production  and  consumption  are  alike 
regulated  by  its  decrees.  Competition  or  monopoly  hinges 
upon  the  word  of  the  bureaucrat.  The  Government  guarantees 
the  manufacturer  his  profit  and  it  tells  the  consumer  what  he 
shall  contribute  toward  the  enrichment  of  industry.  Its 
peasants  are  supposed  to  remain  peasants  and  till  the  soil 
dutifully  for  the  landlord  classes  that  own  the  estates.  Its 
workmen  are  supposed  to  remain  workmen  and  assist  the 
employer  in  conquering  the  markets  of  the  world.  .  .  . 

As  exemplified  in  the  case  of  Prussia,  government  under 
Roman  law  is  necessarily  a  government  under  which  individual 
opportunity  is  inevitably  circumscribed  and  limited.  It  is  a 
government  which  rules  a  nation  founded  on  the  military 


"ARMAGEDDON"  353 

principle — a  few  officers  and  a  great  army  of  privates  who  can 
never  rise  from  the  ranks.  It  is  a  government  capable  of 
development  into  a  wonderfully  organized  machine  which  per- 
forms its  functions  with  amazing  precision.  It  is  a  government 
under  which  a  whole  people  may  be  molded  to  suit  the  pur- 
poses of  those  in  authority.  It  is  a  government  under  which 
one  directing  mind  can  shape  the  destinies  of  an  army;  but  it 
is  a  government  which  has  never  been  tolerated  by  a  free  people, 
and  which  no  people  could  tolerate  and  remain  free. 

In  the  name  of  " social  justice"  it  is  now  proposed  to  erect 
a  replica  of  Prussian  institutions  upon  American  soil.  It  is 
proposed  that  a  government  of  bureaucrats  shall  regulate  the 
activities  of  ninety-five  million  people.  It  is  proposed  to  make 
the  National  Government  a  priceless  prize  for  Plutocracy  to 
take  possession  of  and  administer  for  its  own  profit.  It  is 
proposed  to  turn  a  great  Republic  into  the  theater  of  a  class 
war,  and  every  election  into  a  battle  for  wages,  dividends  and 
spoils.  ...  At  the  head  of  this  system  is  to  be  a  President 
of  the  United  States  clothed  with  greater  power  than  any  other 
living  man  except  the  Czar  of  Russia,  and  he  is  to  hold  the 
liberties,  the  welfare  and  the  progress  of  the  nation  in  the  hollow 
of  his  hand. 

We  know  from  long  experience  with  the  tariff  what  happens 
when  great  aggregations  of  capital  are  at  the  mercy  of  govern- 
ment. They  step  in  and  control  the  government.  For  more 
than  a  generation  the  protected  industries  have  been  united 
in  a  common  conspiracy  to  name  Presidents,  to  name  Repre- 
sentatives in  Congress  and  to  name  United  States  Senators.  For 
more  than  a  generation  this  conspiracy  has  been  successful.  .  .  . 

The  National  Government  has  not  regulated  the  tariff;  the 
tariff  has  regulated  the  National  Government,  and  to-day  the 
tariff-taxing  industries,  under  threat  of  panic,  defy  the  American 
people  to  interfere  with  their  special  privileges. 

This  is  the  condition  to  which  the  country  has  been  brought 
by  a  single  experiment  in  paternalism.  What  would  be  the 
result  if  the  profits  of  every  corporation  hinged  on  the  action 
of  government? 

Does  any  sane  human  being  who  knows  the  history  of  tariff 
manipulation  doubt  what  the  result  would  be?  Is  there  the 


354  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

faintest  shadow  of  question  that  organized  Plutocracy  would 
seize  upon  all  the  machinery  of  national  authority?  .  .  .  That 
it  would  make  Presidents  and  Congresses  and  courts  and  rule 
the  country  by  the  sheer  brute  force  of  money?  .  .  . 

We  are  suffering  already  from  too  much  personal  government, 
from  too  much  privilege,  from  too  much  favoritism.  We  have 
not  kept  the  faith  with  our  own  traditions.  We  have  not  kept 
the  faith  with  our  own  institutions.  The  way  out  is  not  to  rush 
headlong  into  centralization,  despotism  and  plutocracy,  but  to 
return  to  first  principles.  .  .  . 

It  is  possible  that  this  Republic  was  founded  in  error.  It  is 
possible  that  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  a  mistake 
and  the  Constitution  a  blunder.  It  is  possible  that  the  Wash- 
ingtons,  the  Franklins,  the  Jeffersons,  the  Madisons,  the 
Adamses,  the  Jacksons  and  the  Lincolns  were  wrong,  and  that 
the  Roosevelts,  the  Perkinses,  the  Johnsons,  the  Flinns,  the 
Jane  Addamses  and  the  Munseys  are  right;  but  The  World,  for 
one,  still  holds  to  the  faith  of  the  fathers. 

The  popular  vote  gave  indication  of  distrust  and  un- 
certainty. It  revealed  such  a  fermentation  of  new  ideas 
and  new  party  alignments  as  had  not  been  witnessed 
since  1860. 

The  total  was  but  slightly  larger  than  in  1908.  The 
Debs  vote  grew  from  420,793  to  900,672,  although 
Socialists  had  feared  defections  to  the  Progressives. 
Wilson's  vote,  6,293,454,  was  115,650  smaller  than  Bryan's 
in  1908;  Democratic  losses  to  the  Progressives  were  not 
balanced  by  Republican  aid.  A  more  amazing  fact  was 
that  the  Taft  vote,  3,484,980,  and  the  Roosevelt  vote, 
4,119,538,  were  together  74,390  smaller  than  the  Taft 
vote  of  1908.  Considering  the  added  thousands  of 
newly  enfranchised  women,  there  must  have  been  many 
stay-at-home  Republicans. 

The  Wilson  electoral  vote  was  435,  that  of  Roosevelt 
88,  that  of  Taft  8.  The  Progressive  party  failed  to  appear 
in  Congress  in  strength  to  determine  public  action.  There 
the  political  division  was  mainly  upon  the  old  lines,  as 


"ARMAGEDDON"  355 

Democrats  and  Republicans,  though  Progressive  policies 
were  certain  to  divide  or  weaken  the  Republican  vote. 
The  House  was  Democratic  by  147  members,  the  new 
Senate  proved  to  be  Democratic  by  six,  but  the  situation 
as  affecting  action  upon  the  tariff  was  more  complicated 
than  the  mere  count  revealed.  Not  quite  all  the  Demo- 
cratic Senators  could  be  relied  upon  for  a  thorough  tariff 
revision. 

In  not  one  state  legislature  were  the  Progressives  put 
into  control.  In  but  few  were  they  in  position  to  hold  the 
balance  of  power.  In  but  two  states  did  a  Roosevelt 
candidate  for  Governor  run  even  second.  Women  voters 
in  six  states  showed  no  especial  gratitude  to  Mr.  Roosevelt 
for  his  support  of  suffrage. 

The  Roosevelt  states  were  Michigan,  Minnesota, 
Pennsylvania,  South  Dakota,  and  Washington;  California 
was  divided,  eleven  electors  for  Roosevelt,  two  for 
Wilson.  The  Taft  states  were  Vermont  and  Utah. 

One  service  remained  after  the  election  which  an  in- 
dependent press  could  perform  for  Governor  Wilson's  ad- 
ministration. As  if  by  secret  understanding  there  arose 
a  cry  for  the  postponement  of  action  upon  the  tariff.  The 
friends  of  Privilege,  routed  in  the  field,  sought  to  delay 
action  by  forebodings  of  disaster  if  that  policy  upon  which 
the  American  people  had  decided  were  carried  out  at  once. 

In  this  emergency  The  World  demanded  an  extra  session 
of  the  new  Congress;  not  only  an  extra  session,  but  the 
immediate  pledge  of  an  extra  session,  so  that  business  men 
might  not  be  distracted  by  uncertainty.  Other  Demo- 
cratic newspapers  and  citizens  voiced  the  same  views,  and 
Governor  Wilson,  upheld  in  his  own  opinion,  delayed 
not  long  to  make  his  position  clear  in  this  statement  of 
November  15,  1912: 

I  shall  call  Congress  together  in  extraordinary  session  not  later 
than  April  15.  I  shall  do  this  not  only  because  I  think  that  the 
pledges  of  the  party  ought  to  be  redeemed  as  promptly  as  possible, 


356  THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 

but  also  because  I  know  it  to  be  in  the  interest  of  business  that  all 
uncertainty  as  to  what  the  particular  items  of  tariff  revision  are  to 
be  should  be  removed  as  soon  as  possible. 

So  closed  the  battle  of  1912  in  the  rebirth  of  hope. 
The  fruit  of  thirty  years  of  fighting  since  Joseph  Pulitzer 
re-established  The  World  seemed  fair  upon  the  tree.  For 
the  first  time  since  the  civil  war  the  people  had  taken 
control  of  their  own  government.  As  The  World  had  said 
before  election:  " Sometimes  protected  industry  had  lost 
control  of  the  Presidency.  Sometimes  it  had  lost  control 
of  the  House  of  Representatives.  Sometimes  it  had  lost 
control  of  the  Senate."  But  for  fifty  years  " there  had 
been  no  time  in  which  it  had  lost  complete  control  of  all 
the  branches  of  government."  Now  the  change  in  the 
federal  government  was  complete  in  both  the  executive 
and  legislative  departments. 

Not  in  the  sense  in  which  Mr.  Roosevelt  had  used  the 
word,  it  was  indeed  Armageddon. 

And  thus,  as  "A  New  Birth  of  Freedom,"  The  World 
hailed  it  on  the  morning  of  November  6,  1912,  when  the 
magnitude  of  the  victory  first  broke  upon  the  vision  of 
the  waiting  country: 

Under  the  leadership  of  Woodrow  Wilson  the  Democratic 
party  has  won  its  greatest  victory  since  1852. 

But  this  victory  is  no  tawdry  partisan  triumph.  It  is  no 
vote  of  confidence  in  the  Democratic  party  as  a  party.  It  is 
a  mandate  from  the  people,  and  woe  be  unto  the  leaders  of 
this  Democracy  if  they  falter  in  obedience  to  that  mandate. 

The  country  is  seething  with  political  discontent  in  spite  of 
its  unparalleled  material  wealth  and  prosperity.  This  discon- 
tent is  confined  to  no  particular  class  or  section.  Rich  and  poor 
alike,  children  of  fortune  and  children  of  poverty,  have  begun 
to  lose  faith  in  the  efficacy  of  their  Government  to  establish 
justice  and  promote  the  general  welfare.  They  are  not  sure 
where  the  fault  lies;  they  are  not  united  as  to  the  remedy; 
but  this  they  know — that  their  institutions  have  been  seized 


"ARMAGEDDON"  357 

by  privileged  interests  and  turned  against  them;  that  subtle, 
mysterious  forces  operating  unseen  have  proved  time  after 
time  that  their  power  over  public  affairs  was  greater  than  the 
power  of  the  people  as  a  whole,  and  they  demand  that  their 
Government  be  emancipated  from  this  partnership. 

This  is  the  great  work  that  confronts  Woodrow  Wilson  and 
the  Democratic  party — to  restore  popular  confidence  in  the 
institutions  of  the  Republic  and  re-establish  a  government  of 
the  people,  by  the  people  and  for  the  people. 

For  sixteen  years  the  Republican  party  has  been  in  continuous 
control  of  national  affairs.  In  1896  it  polled  7,104,799  votes. 
In  1900  it  polled  7,207,923  votes.  In  1904  it  polled  7,623,486 
votes.  In  1908  it  polled  7,678,908  votes.  But  suddenly  this 
seemingly  invincible  organization  came  crashing  down  to  ruin 
because  it  had  not  kept  the  faith.  The  Democratic  party  in 
turn  will  go  crashing  down  to  ruin  if  it  does  not  keep  the  faith. 

The  American  people  are  no  longer  hypnotized  by  party 
labels  and  party  emblems.  They  are  concerned  with  principles 
of  government  and  with  parties  as  a  means  of  translating  those 
principles  into  action.  They  have  made  Woodrow  Wilson 
President  because  they  believe  that  his  ideals  are  their  ideals; 
that  his  courage  is  their  courage,  and  that  he  will  find  a  way 
to  right  the  wrongs  against  which  they  have  protested. 

A  man  of  lesser  character,  of  lower  ideals,  of  smaller  ability, 
could  not  have  won  the  victory  that  Governor  Wilson  won  yes- 
terday. He  could  not  have  appealed  to  the  imagination  of  the 
country  as  Woodrow  Wilson  appealed  to  it.  No  man  has  ever 
been  elevated  to  the  Presidency  who  was  more  fully  the  people's 
President  than  this  college  professor  who  scorned  alike  the 
support  of  the  bosses  and  the  support  of  Plutocracy.  It  is 
a  tremendous  compliment  that  the  voters  have  paid  to  him, 
but  the  responsibility  is  equally  great. 

If  he  should  fail,  the  consequences  must  be  doubly  disastrous. 
If  he  succeeds,  as  The  World  believes  he  will,  a  new  era  will 
have  begun  in  American  history,  with  a  new  vindication  of 
Republican  institutions  and  a  new  vindication  of  the  immortal 
principles  of  the  Republic.  This  Nation  will  indeed  have  a 
new  birth  of  freedom. 


INDEX 


ANDERSON,  Judge,  opinion  in  Panama 

libel  suit,  277. 
Arbitration  movement,  68. 
Arbitration  treaties,  defeat  of,  307. 
Archbald,   Judge,   and   The  World, 

297,  298. 

"Armageddon,"  340. 
Armstrong    Committee.    217,    218, 

220,  221. 
Arthur,  Chester  A.,  and  "Soap,"  313. 

BALTIMORE  convention  of  1912, 344- 
347. 

Bartholdi  statue,  37-40. 

Battle-flags,  return  of,  59. 

Becker  case,  240,  242,  243. 

"Belshazzar's  Feast,"  32. 

"Big  Stick  Convention,  A,"  251. 

Blaine,  James  G.,  and  Republican 
"principles,"  24;  and  the  Fisher 
letters,  30,  31;  and  "Rum,  Ro- 
manism and  Rebellion,"  32;  as 
Secretary  of  State,  66,  67,  68,  69, 
72,  73. 

Blindness,  Mr.  Pulitzer's,  52-54. 

"Blocks  of  Five,"  314. 

Boer  War,  169,  170. 

"Bond  Conspiracy,  The  Great,"  138. 

Bond  deal  of  February  (1895),  133. 

Bond  offer,  The  World's,  134. 

Bond  Ring,  the,  and  The  World,  131- 
137. 

"Boodle"  Aldermen.  47. 

Brazil,  recognition  of  Republic  of,  69. 

Bryan,  William  J.,  "cross  of  gold" 
speech,  147,  148;  in  the  cam- 
paign of  1896,  149-153;  and  im- 
perialism, 172,  173,  174;  insists 
on  free  silver,  176;  "The  New 
Bryan,"  177;  return  of  from  trip 
around  the  world,  247,  248;  on 
government  ownership,  248; 


"The  Map  of  Bryanism,"  249; 
support  !of  by  The  World  in  1908, 
253;  first  campaign  speech  of  in 
1908,  255,  256;  speech  of  accept- 
ance, 246;  defeat  of  in  1908,  261, 
262;  at  the  Baltimore  convention, 
344,  345,  347. 

CANADA  and  reciprocity,  308. 

Catskill  water  folly,  attack  on,  294, 
295,  296. 

Chanler,  Lewis  Stuyvesant,  as  can- 
didate for  Governor,  235. 

Chili,  trouble  with,  86. 

China-Japan  War,  and  international 
peace,  104. 

Cholera  scare  of  1892,  87. 

Civil-service  reform,  44,  45. 

Clark,  Champ,  at  Baltimore,  345. 

Cleveland,  Grover,  rise  to  political 
power,  21;  Cleveland  and  Hoad- 
ley  as  a  ticket,  23;  "Why  The 
World  Likes,"  27;  and  Tammany, 
27;  and  The  Sun,  28;  Cleveland's 
tribute  to  The  World,  35;  tariff 
message  of  1887, 61 ;  and  the  Mur- 
chison  letter,  64;  forcing  of  his 
nomination  by  The  World  in  1884, 
82;  The  World's  fight  for,  in  1892, 
88;  The  World  on,  in  1892,  92;  and 
the  Venezuela  crisis,  112-124;  and 
the  bond  sale,  131-137. 

Coal  conspiracy  of  1892,  87. 

Coal  ownership,  189. 

Coler,  Comptroller,  favored  for  Gu- 
bernatorial candidate,  177;  op- 
posed for  nomination  later,  177. 

Colombia  and  the  Panama  Canal, 
264-267. 

Congress  and  the  Presidents,  329. 

Conkling,  Roscoe,  and  Mr.  Pulitzer, 
55. 


360 


THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 


Consolidation  Act,  155. 

Cortelyou,  George  B.,  and  The 
World's  Ten  Questions,  316. 

Courier  and  Enquirer,  2. 

Courts,  the,  and  The  World,  296, 
297. 

"Crime  of  1873,"  history  of,  144. 

Croker,  "Boss,"  and  The  World's 
prize  contest,  156;  and  the  nom- 
ination of  Edward  M.  Shepard, 
181-185;  retirement  of,  190. 

Cromwell,  William  Nelson,  and  the 
Panama  scandal,  267,  268,  269, 
272,  273,  274. 

Cummings,  Alexander,  2. 

Curtis,  William  J.,  268,  269. 

DANA,  CHARLES  A.,  8. 

De  Lesseps,  Ferdinand,  263,  264. 

"Democracy,  True,"  The  World's 
programme  of,  300. 

"Democracy  or  Despotism."  351, 
352,  353,  354. 

Democratic  Party,  and  Cleveland  in 
1884,  21-36;  The  World's  services 
to,  35,  36;  and  the  tariff,  42,  43, 
65,  97,  98,  154,  205;  and  civil- 
service  reform,  43,  44,  45;  and 
taxation,  61,  65;  and  jingoism,  64; 
and  Cleveland  in  1892,  82,  83;  in 
the  administration  of  1893-96,  93; 
and  "sound  money,"  140,  141;  and 
free  silver,  146,  147,  149,  152,  154; 
"terrible  choice"  confronting  the, 
in  1896,  152;  and  imperialism, 
173-176;  in  the  campaign  of  1904, 
200-211;  and  the  return  of  Bryan 
in  1906,  246-250;  in  the  cam- 
paign of  1908,  252-262;  in  the 
campaign  of  1912,  343-357. 

Democratic  victory  of  1912,  354, 
355. 

"Democrats,  Gold,"  148,  175. 

Devery,  William  S.,  178,  190,  191. 

Dingley  bill,  154,  155. 

Dix,  John  A.,  The  World's  support 
of,  334. 

Duque,  Gabriel,  273. 

ELECTORAL  reform  and  The  World, 

312. 
Equitable  case,  summary  of,   221, 

222,  223. 
"Equitable  Corruption,"  213,  221. 


Equitable  Life  Assurance  Society 
and  The  World,  221-227. 

FASSETT,  J.  SLOAT,  and  the  shirt- 
sleeves incident,  76. 

Federal  Elections  bill,  69. 

Fiat  money  in  elections  before  1896, 
history  of,  143. 

Fisher  letters,  Blaine  and  the,  30. 

"Floaters,  "3 14. 

Force  bill,  69. 

"For  President— Woodrow  Wilson," 
343. 

Foulke, William  Dudley,  letter  of,  270. 

Franchise  tax,  166,  167,  288. 

Free  silver,  history  of,  143,  144;  and 
the  Democrats,"  146,  147,  149.  152, 
154;  The  World's  "Shorter  Silver 
Catechism,"  149,  150;  insisted 
upon  by  Bryan,  176;  in  the  cam- 
paign of  1904,  201,  203,  204;  and 
Judge  Parker's  telegram,  204. 

"Frying  the  fat"  in  1888,  314. 

GAS  Trust  and  The  TForW/288,  289. 

Gaynor,  William  J.,  and  McKane, 
99;  advocated  by  The  World  in 
1898  as  Democratic  candidate  for 
Governor.  165;  administration  of, 
241;  and  the  Becker  case,  241; 
The  World's  comment  on,  in  1911. 

George,  Henry,  nomination  of,  for 
Mayor,  49;  tribute  to,  157. 

"George  Movement,  The,  "meaning 
of,  49. 

Gladstone  Memorial,  56. 

Godkin,  E,  L.,  80. 

"Gold  telegram,"  Judge  Parker's,204. 

Government  regulation  of  corpora- 
tions, review  of,  309. 

Grout,  Edward  M.,  193. 

HACKETT,  Chairman,  search  of,  for 

"discreet"  men,  91. 
Hanna,  Mark,  138. 
Hanna  and  Hannaism,  315. 
Harrah,  Charles  J.,  letter  of,  90. 
Harriman,  E.  H.,  and  the  Equitable, 

224;     and   the   Panama   scandal, 

282,    283;     and    "Where    do    I 

stand?"  317. 
Harrison,    Benjamin,    The    World's 

comment  on,  62,  63;   and  Blaine, 

66;  and  Hawaii,  67. 


INDEX 


361 


"Has  Mr.  Taft  Committed  Suicide?" 
304,  305. 

Hawaii,  Blame  and,  94. 

Hawaii  and  the  Pan-American  con- 
ference, 67;  and  Elaine,  67,  94. 

Hearst,  William  R.,  in  mayoralty 
campaign  of  1905,  229;  guberna- 
torial campaign  of  1906,  231;  and 
Tammany,  232;  in  mayoralty  cam- 
paign of  1909,  239;  and  Roose- 
velt, 333,  334. 

Herald,  The,  and  Venezuela,  114. 

Higgins,  Governor,  and  insurance 
reform,  214,  217,  219. 

Hill,  David  B.,  and  The  World,  40, 
41;  and  the  Mugwumps,  40,  41; 
election  of,  as  Senator,  79;  tariff 
policy  of,  80;  and  "snap"  con- 
vention of  1892,  80;  as  "an  im- 
possible candidate,"  81;  1894 
campaign  for  Governorship,  100; 
his  coal-ownership  policy,  168, 169. 

Hoadley,  Cleveland  and,  as  a  ticket, 
23. 

Holmes,  Oliver  Wendell,  appoint- 
ment of,  to  Supreme  Court,  186. 

Homestead  strike,  83,  84. 

Hooker,  Justice,  and  The  World,  296. 

Hough,  Judge,  opinion  of,  in  the 
Panama  libel  suit,  279. 

Hughes,  Charles  K,  and  the  insur- 
ance investigation,  217,  218,  219, 
221,  223,  227;  rise  of,  to  power, 
228;  campaign  for  Governorship, 
231,  232;  election  as  Governor, 
232;  first  administration  of,  232, 
233;  support  of,  by  The  World, 
233,  234,  235;  and  race-track  leg- 
islation, 233,  234;  re-election  of, 
236;  second  term  of,  236;  ap- 
pointment to  United  States  Su- 
preme Court,  236;  and  the  Re- 
publican leaders,  237. 

Hurlbert,  William  Henry,  3. 

Hyde,  James  H.,  charges  against, 
213,  214;  and  the  Equitable  scan- 
dal, 212-227. 

ICE  Trust  and  Mayor  Van  Wyck, 
179;  and  The  World,  179,  180. 

Imperialism,  protest  against,  170, 
171,  172,  173. 

Income  tax,  104,  105,  106,  285,  286, 
287. 


Independence    League  -  Tammany 

alliance,  231. 
Indianapolis  News  and  the  Panama 

Canal  scandal,  271,  272,  273,  275, 

281. 

Indiana  plot  of  1880,  312. 
Initiative  and  referendum,  299. 
Insurance  deal,  operation  of  the,  215, 

216. 
"Is  War  a  Crime?"  162. 

JAPANESE  War,  290,  291,  292. 

Jerome,  William  Travers,  on  mayor 
Low,  192;  and  the  Equitable  scan- 
dal, 219,  220;  election  of,  as 
district  attorney,  229. 

Johnson,  Gov.  John  A.,  250. 

Journalism,  Pulitzer  School  of,  292, 
293. 

KRUGER,  President,  and  The  World, 
169. 

LABOR  troubles  of  1886,  48. 
"Leprosy  and  loot,"  153. 
Liberty,  Statue  of,  37-40. 
Life-insurance  scandals,  212^-227. 
Lodge,  Senator,  and  Venezuela,  122. 
Low,  Seth,  nomination  of,  for  Mayor, 

181;   administration  of,  191,  192; 

renomination  of,  192;  The  World's 

comment  on,  194. 

MCCLELLAN,  GEORGE?B.,  as  Mayor- 
alty candidate  in  1902,  193;  com- 
ment on,  195,  230;  and  conse- 
quences of  a  Tammany  victory, 
195;  re-election  of,  as  Mayor,  231. 

McKane,  John  Y.,  99. 

McKinley  bill,  62,  63,  64,  74. 

McKinley,  William,  prediction  of  his 
victory,  138;  misgiving  of  The 
World  concerning,  146;  campaign 
of,  in  1896,  150;  and  the  war  with 
Spain,  160;  and  the  Boer  War, 
169;  renomination  of,  138,  139. 

McLaughlin,  Hugh,  and  his  "noble 
victory,"  194. 

Manila  victory  exclusively  reported 
in  The  World,  162. 

"Map  of  Bryanism,"  249. 

Marble,  Manton,  2. 

Million  -  dollar  bond  offer,  The 
World's,  134. 


362 


THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 


"  Monopoly  is  Slavery,"  351. 

"More  Muddling  of  Government/' 
328. 

Morgan,  J.  P.,  and  the  bond  sale, 
131,  137;  and  President  Cleve- 
land, 135,  136;  and  the  coal 
strike,  187;  and  the  Equitable, 
225,  226,  227;  testimony  of ,  before 
Pujo  Committee,  226,  227;  and 
the  Panama  Canal,  272,  273,  274. 

Morgan  syndicate  and  The  World, 

Mugwumps  and  The  World,  43. 

Murchison  letter,  64. 

Murphy,  Charles  F.,  at  Baltimore, 

345,  346;  and  The  World,  349,  350. 
Museums,  Sunday  opening  of,  The 

World's  fight  for,  71. 

"NEW  Birth  of  Freedom,  A,"  356, 

357. 

Newspaper  power,  184,  185. 
"New  York's  Great  Lesson,"  242. 
Nicoll,  De  Lancey,  argument  of,  in 

Panama  suit,  282. 
Nixon,  Lewis,  190. 
Northern  Securities  case,  187,  197, 

198. 

ODELL,  BENJAMIN  B.,  Jr.,  nomina- 
tion of,  178;  comment  on,  181;  as 
candidate  for  re-election,  188. 

Olney,  Richard,  and  the  Sugar 
Trust,  95;  and  the  Venezuela  note, 
121. 

Opposition,  function  of,  260. 

PACIFIC  Railroad  frauds,  57. 

Panama  Canal,  history  of,  263,  264; 
history  of  seizure  of,  264-267;  and 
President  Roosevelt,  265-284. 

Panama  libel  suit,  262-284;  settle- 
ment of,  277;  The  World's  victory, 
281;  toll  rates,  284. 

Panama  Republic,  creation  of,  264- 
269. 

Panic  of  1893,  93,  94. 

Parker,  Alton  B.,  candidacy  of,  200- 
211;  "gold  telegram,"  204;  let- 

!  ter  of,  to.  The  World,  323;  at  the 
Baltimore  convention,  344. 

Payne-Aldrich  tariff,  302,  304,  305. 

Peace,  international,  and  The  World, 
168. 


"Peace  on  Earth,"  115. 

Peace  treaty  between  France  and  the 
United  States,  306. 

Perkins,  George  W.,  and  William 
Travers  Jerome,  219,  220. 

Philippines,  retention  of,  170. 

Platform,  The  World's,  9. 

Platt,  Thomas  C.,  evil  influence  of, 
71;  and  the  Tammany  victory  of, 
1897, 155, 156;  and  Roosevelt,  164. 

Portsmouth  Peace  Conference,  292. 

Post,  The  Evening,  and  Venezuela, 
114. 

President,  power  of  the,  198. 

"President  or  a  Proxy,  A,"  254,  255. 

Press,  power  of,  185. 

Press,  The  New  York,  and  the  return 
of  Standard  Oil  money,  319. 

Prize,  The  World's,  for  naming 
Croker's  candidate,  156. 

Programme  of  reforms,  The  World's, 
300. 

Progressive  movement,  birth  of,  337. 

"Protection,  Centennial  of,"  73. 

Publicity  of  campaign  contributions, 
322. 

Public  Utilities  bill,  233. 

Pulitzer,  Joseph,  early  events  in  career 
of,  8;  his  blindness,  52,  54;  methods 
of  work,  53;  message  of,  at  founding 
of  World  Building,  70;  and  the 
Homestead  strike,  84,  85;  receives 
address  of  thanks  from  peace  so- 
cieties, 124;  responds  to  peace 
societies'  address,  126-130;  at- 
tack on,  by  President  Roosevelt, 
275;  and'  the  Russo-Japanese 
War,  292;  and  the  recall  of  judges, 
297;  Indianapolis  speech  of  1880, 
312;  and  Sulzer,  349. 

Pullman  strike,  101. 

RACE-TRACK  legislation,  233. 
Ramapo  plot,  167,  168. 
Randall,  Samuel  J.,  16. 
Recall  of  judges  and  The  World,  296, 

297. 

Recall  of  Judicial  decisions,  299. 
Reciprocity  and  Canada,  307. 
Reconcentration,  160. 
Reed,  Thomas  B.,  139. 
Reform  and  The  World,  312-324. 
Reforms,  programme  of  The  World's, 

300. 


INDEX 


363 


Republican  Party,  attack  on,  18,  19, 
20;  Republican  "principles,"  25; 
in  the  campaign  of  1884,  25-33; 
and  Harrison,  62;  Republican 
paradoxes,  63;  and  Blaine,  66;  and 
the  McKinley  bill,  72;  the  Repub- 
lican record,  89,  90;  in  the  cam- 
paign of  1896;  138-152;  and 
sound  money,  140;  platform  of 
1900,  140;  outlook  in  1900,  174, 
175;  and  Taft  in  1908,  251,  252; 
platform  of  1908,  252;  in  the 
Roosevelt  administration,  259;  in 
Taft's  administration,  301-311. 

"Rocks  that  Wrecked  a  Party,  The," 
310. 

Rojestvensky's  fleet,  doom  of,  291. 

Roosevelt,  Theodore,  as  Police  Com- 
missioner, 108;  and  The  World  in 
1898,  164-167;  as  Vice-Presiden- 
tial candidate,  176;  praise  of  him 
by  The  World,  386,  197;  and  the 
Northern  Securities  victory,  197, 
198;  and  "malefactors  of  great 
wealth,"  257;  summary  of  his  ad- 
ministration, 259;  letter  regarding 
Panama  Canal,  270;  letter  to 
William  Dudley  Foulke,  270;  and 
the  Panama  Canal,  271,  272,  273; 
special  Panama  message,  275; 
early  career  of,  325;  and  the  Ed- 
munds campaign,  325;  in  the  leg- 
islature, 325:  attitude  of  The 
World  toward,  326,  327;  support 
of  Blaine,  326;  Indianapolis  speech 
of,  328;  Provincetown  speech  of, 
328;  and  Secret  Service  fund 
scandal,  329;  and  Congress,  329; 
advocated  as  Senator,  330; 
World's  farewell  to,  330,  331;  re- 
turn from  Africa,  331;  in  New 
York  gubernatorial  campaign  of 
1910,  332-338;  and  Hearst,  333, 
334;  defeat  of,  in  1910,  335; 
pledge  of,  337;  and  the  "Seven 
Little  Governors,"  339;  his  "hat 
in  the  ring,"  339;  attempt  to  grab 
Republican  nomination,  340;  "Ar- 
mageddon," 340;  defeat  in  1912, 
342. 

Rosenthal,  Herman,  murder  of,  241. 

"Rum,  Romanism  and  Rebellion," 

oo 

Russia,  The  World  and,  292. 


Ryan,  Thomas  F.,  and  the  Equi- 
table, 223,  224,  225,  226. 

Ryan  and  Belmont,  contributions  of, 
32 1 ;  "  Ryan-Murphy  conspiracy ' ' 
at  Baltimore,  346. 

SALUTATORY,  Mr.  Pulitzer's,  1. 

Samoan  policy,  66. 

Schomburgk,  Robert,  and  Vene- 
zuelan boundary  dispute,  110,  111. 

School  of  Journalism,  the  Pulitzer, 
292,  293. 

Schurz,  Carl,  and  Tammany,  194. 

Schwab,  Charles  M.,  letter  of,  to 
Frick,  189. 

"Scoundrelism  and  Vandalism,"  47. 

Secret  Service  fund  scandal,  329. 

"Seven  Little  Governors,  The,"  339. 

"Seven  Years  of  Demagogy  and 
Denunciation,"  330. 

Sevmour  tariff  plank,  15. 

Sharp,  "Jake,"  47. 

Shepard,  Edward  M.,  nomination  of, 
by  Tammany,  182,  183. 

"Shopping  Woman,  the,"  andJRe- 
publican  defeat,  75. 

Silver  question,  beginning  of  the,  76, 
77,  78;  and  The  World,  138,  143- 
152;  history  of,  144;  "Shorter 
Silver  Catechism,"  149,  150. 

Silver  campaign  fund,  in  1896,  315. 

Silver,  free,  insisted  upon  bv  Bryan, 
176. 

Smith,  Delayan,  270,  271. 

Southern  Brigadier  issue,  14. 

Spain,  war  with,  159-164. 

Standard  Oil  campaign  contribu- 
tions, 318. 

Strong,  Mayor,  and  reform  in  New 
York,  108. 

Subway  problem  and  The  World, 
244,  245;  and  Mayor  Gaynor,  244, 
245. 

Sugar  Trust  and  Olney,  95. 

Sulzer,  William,  and*  Mr.  Pulitzer, 
349;  and  The  World,  350. 

Sun,  The,  unique  position  of,  8;  op- 
position to  Cleveland,  28;  and 
Venezuela,  113. 

TAFT,  WILLIAM  HOWARD,  The 
World's  comment  on,  in  1908, 
254,  255;  and  The  World,  301- 
311. 


364 


THE    STORY    OF    A    PAGE 


Tammany,  Cleveland  and,  27;  and 
The  World,  71,  72;  return  to 
power  of,  71;  and  the  election  of 
1897,  155,  156,  157;  and  the  Ice 
Trust,  179;  in  the  Shepard-Low 
campaign,  178-185;  in  the  cam- 
paign of  1903,  190-196;  rise  of  a 
now  power  in,  191-193;  conse- 
quences of  a  Tammany  victory, 
195;  in  the  campaign  of  1909,  238, 
239,  240. 

Tariff,  "horizontal-reduction,"  the, 
45;  Cleveland's  message  of  1887, 
61;  the  Mills  bill,  61;  tariff-re- 
duction argument  of  twenty  years 
ago,  63;  passing  of  the  Dingley 
bill,  154;  Tariff  "bill  of  1897  and 
The  World,  154;  Payne-Aldrich 
bill,  302-305;  in  the  campaign  of 
1912,  348.  (See  also  under  Demo- 
cratic Party  and  Republican 
Party.) 

"Tattooed  Man,  The,"  30. 

Tilden,  Samuel  J.,  The  World  and, 
17;  his  weakness  as  a  candidate, 
21. 

Times,  The,  and  Venezuela,  113. 

Treasury,  The  World's  plan  for  re- 
plenishing, 132. 

Treaty  of  Paris,  the,  173. 

Tribune,  The,  and  Venezuela,  114. 

"Triumphant  Plutocracy,"  314. 

Trust  contributions  in  1904,  316, 
317. 


"Twilight  of  the  Gods,  The,"  331. 

VAN  ALEN  case,  the,  96. 

Van  Wyck,  Robert  A.,  156;  admin- 
istration of,  178;  and  the  Ice 
Trust,  179. 

Venezuela  boundary  dispute,  110- 
130;  Cleveland's  message  on,  112; 
and  The  World,  114-124;  messages 
of  good  will  from  abroad  to  The 
World,  116-120. 

"Victory  for  the"  People,  A,"  303. 

WAR  taxation,  65. 

Watterson,  Colonel,  The  World's  re- 
ply to,  107. 

"Whisky,  No  Free,"  23. 

Whitman,  District  Attorney,  and  the 
Becker  case,  241. 

Wiesbaden  message,  Mr.  Pulitzer's, 
70. 

Wilson  bill,  the,  97,  98. 

Wilson,  Woodrow,  The  World's  de- 
mand for  nomination  of,  343; 
nominated,  346;  election  pre- 
dicted, 346. 

"  Wilson  —  No  Compromise  with 
Ryan  or  Murphy,"  346. 

World,  The,  leading  editorial  in  first 
issue  of,  1;  suppression  of  in  1864, 
3;  St.  Clair  McKelway  on,  3;  plat- 
form of  in  1883,9;  Jennings,  R.W., 
on,  10;  comment  of  Philadelphia 
Chronicle  on,  11. 


THE    END 


14  DAY  USE 

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